Making Up For Past Mistakes
by QuirkyBadger22
Summary: After losing to Tobias in the Sinnoh League Ash decided to finally take his training more seriously and prove that he can indeed become the very best like no one ever was. Will he be able to finally achieve his dream or will he fail like so many trainers have before him?
1. Time To Get Serious

Hello readers, I thought I'd take a crack at writing a fanfic. I've decided to put up the first chapter as a kind of teaser which is why it's short. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash and a few others can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is of course regular speech.

Let the story begin!

* * *

Ash had just arrived back in Kanto after his defeat in the Sinnoh League. He was walking back towards his home town while he thought about the adventure in Sinnoh which had taught him a lot about Pokémon, about battles and most of all about himself. He couldn't help but feel pride for doing as well as he had, coming in the top four and only being beaten by Legendary Pokémon was a massive improvement. He glanced to the mouse sat happily on his shoulder and remembered the moment he saw that Pikachu had taken down Latios with him. He'd never been prouder of his best friend who had constantly given him reasons to be proud after all he had defeated fully evolved Pokémon, a Dragonite and even a Regice. This was different though this time it was in a proper official league which was televised worldwide.

His pride soon turned to guilt as the thoughts he had briefly after his defeat came back. Hindsight was both a blessing and a curse, when he looked back at his plans before the match he could see the clear mistakes he had made. The biggest mistake was that a couple of his Pokémon choices had been questionable to say the least, Torkoal being the first coming to mind with Gible coming in a close second. The other four had proven themselves time and again and while Torkoal and Gible had had their moments neither could be considered in the same league as his stronger Pokémon.

He then started to wonder whether things would have been different if he had called over a couple of different Pokémon, Charizard had fought and even beaten legendary Pokémon in the past and Ash was sure that when push came to shove Bulbasaur, Squirtle and even Infernape could have at least put up a very good fight. Ash quickly shook away the thought, there was no use wondering what could have been all he could do is learn from the mistakes he made against Tobias and ensure that the he doesn't repeat them.

Pallet Town suddenly came into view prompting Ash to start running home so he could see his mother again. If there was one thing he did regret about exploring the world it was leaving his mother so frequently, he knew that deep down she was lonely as she was all alone apart from Mimey and Professor Oak which made him guilty that apart from the month or so he spent home after a tournament he would be in another region and only able to contact her via phone. This time would be different though, he was intent on staying in Pallet for a few months so he could not only train for the next League but also spend time with his mother.

After a few minutes Ash arrived home, he looked in the front window but could see nothing but darkness as all the lights were off. Ash already knew what this meant so he got into acting mode and opened the front door, he walked inside and quickly shut the door behind him.

"Mum are you in here?" he yelled.

Ash's question was answered by giggles coming from the living room, he knew that some of his friends could see him so he whipped his head in the direction of the lounge and took a few tentative steps hoping he was acting well enough to deceive them. When he entered the living room he flicked on the light and saw that the whole room had been decorated to celebrate his performance in Sinnoh. He was so distracted by the decoration the he didn't notice he friends creeping up behind him.

"Surprise!" the y suddenly yelled.

Ash spun on the spot to look at all the friends and had to admit that this time they had shocked him. The surprise quickly wore off though and he approached his mother who brought him into a bone crushing hug which Ash returned. He then hugged or shook hands with the rest of his friends, happy to see them all once again. Ash pretty much went through the motions for the duration of the party, he'd had one for each region as well as one for the Orange League and Battle Frontier so it wasn't anything new. None the less he always loved spending time with his friend who he had experienced so much with and he knew that his mother had worked hard on organising this so he would enjoy the party.

As night fell Ash's companion gradually left until it was just Ash and Delia helping Mimey tidy up the house. After a concerted effort by the trio the house was quickly cleaned up leaving them tired and ready for a good night's rest. Delia yawned and wished Ash a good night before she headed upstairs leaving Ash alone in the living room. He sat on the sofa and started to plan what he was going to do now, he wanted to be fully prepared for his next attempt at a League. His thoughts drifted to his Pokémon and his desire to train hard for the next League grew.

"I promise I won't fail you all again." Ash murmured to himself.

* * *

Author's Notes

Thank you all for reading I hope you enjoyed what you read. All future chapters will be longer than this one, I just wanted to put this out as a teaser.

If you have any suggestions I'd be happy to hear them.


	2. Taking The First Steps

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular the first chapter was.

As promised last time this chapter is much longer so I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is of course regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

Ash was sitting on the sofa with a pad in front of him and a pencil in his hand, he nibbled on the end of the pencil trying to decide what he should prioritise for the next adventure. He then realised that he hadn't even decided what region he would challenge next. Three choices immediately came to mind; Unova, Kalos and retrying Kanto. All three were tempting however he could only choose one, he dismissed Kanto first simply because he had already done it and wanted to diversify his team something that wouldn't be too easy in Kanto. This left Unova and Kalos which he had a hard time choosing between but he eventually managed to choose Unova since that had a good selection of Pokémon to strengthen his team.

With the region chosen Ash had managed to do what he wanted to next which was identify what Pokémon would be beneficial to his team, while he would catch anything that caught his eye he had his mind set on a few specific Pokémon. This left Ash with only one thing to organise and that was the training regimes for his current Pokémon which included moves he wanted to teach them before he went to Unova.

Ash wasn't sure how long he sat there meticulously planning but eventually he started to feel drowsy, he decided to lay down on the sofa with highlights from the other regions Leagues on the television. He watched as multiple Pokémon he'd never even heard of fought epic battles which at first kept him awake but after a while he fell to sleep on the sofa.

* * *

Ash woke up the next morning feeling relatively well rested considering he'd slept on the sofa, he stretched his arms out and noticed that there was blanket draped over him. At first, he was confused but quickly surmised that his mother must have found him asleep and covered him up so he wouldn't get cold. He smiled at his mother's thoughtfulness, he then got up from the sofa and headed upstairs to get ready for today.

After a quick shower and putting on a clean set of clothes he was lured back downstairs by the smell of his mother's cooking. When he got to the kitchen his mouth started to water as he saw the vast selection of food before him. He took a seat next to Pikachu who was happily gulping down a bottle of ketchup and smiled at the content look on the mouse's face. A plate was suddenly placed in front of him which made him turn his gaze from the gluttonous mouse to his mother who was smiling at him from across the kitchen table.

"Morning mum, everything looks amazing and thanks for getting a blanket for me last night."

"Well I wouldn't want you getting cold during the night."

A comfortable silence took over as everyone ate their breakfast, the only sounds being the clanking up utensils and the slurping sound of Pikachu guzzling his favourite condiment. Suddenly Pikachu dropped his beloved bottle of ketchup and darted out of the kitchen both Ketchum's knew why the mouse had bolted and weren't surprised to hear Pikachu throwing up in the bathroom.

"He never learns, does he? You okay buddy?"

The only response they got were more groans, moments later Pikachu then slowly walked into the kitchen holding his stomach. Seeing his best friend still feeling the aftereffects of his ketchup guzzling he felt sorry for the mouse so he gently picked him up and placed him in his lap. Ash then went back to his breakfast while scratching behind the mouse's ears which cheered Pikachu up in no time.

* * *

It didn't take Ash long to eat everything on display and with a satisfied sigh he placed his fork onto his plate. He then started to clear the table, passing cups and plates to his mother who had started washing up. When the table was clear Ash picked up a towel and started drying what had been washed, he cast a look over at Mimey who seemed to be annoyed that someone had taken his job. The psychic type instead chose to pick up his broom and go sweep up leaving Ash, Delia and a now snoozing Pikachu alone.

"So, I guess you're not sure what to do now that the Sinnoh League is over." Delia said.

"I've actually already made plans for my next journey." Ash replied.

"Already?" Delia murmured sadly.

Ash heard the dejection in his mother's voice, it was probably the most heart-breaking thing he had ever heard. He'd known for a while now that his constant journeying had left his mother lonely at times but he didn't think she felt that alone. He put down the plate that he'd been drying and hugged his mother who stopped washing the dishes and returned her sons embrace. The hug quickly turned into one of Delia's bone crushing ones and to Ash it really hit home how much he'd been missed.

"Don't worry mum I'm not leaving yet, I'm staying home for next few months. I need to train for the Unova League and I need your help with that."

Ash felt his mother relax which he was grateful for as she slightly loosened her grip on him, she quickly composed herself and then looked up at her son in bemusement wondering what he needs help with.

"How can I help?"

"Well I intend to travel alone this time so I need to learn how to do things that Brock covered like cooking."

Ash's request stirred up multiple emotions inside Delia. The first being surprise considering that in the past he'd never seemed interested in learning anything like that mostly due to the presence of Brock. She was also glad that he had brought it up since she had been considering suggesting to Ash knowing that he'd need these skills in the future. Most of all though she felt pride in her son, she had always been proud of him to be fair especially since the start of his journey however him showing this independence made her prouder than anything he had done thus far.

"I'll be more than happy to teach you whatever you want to know. We'll start this afternoon since I'm sure you need to go see your Pokémon."

"Thank mum, I'll be back soon."

Ash hugged his mum again and then ran out the house picking up a still drowsy Pikachu on the way out. Delia looked out the window and chuckled at the sight of her son sprinting down the road, she took a seat at the kitchen table making a list of skills she needs to teach Ash before he leaves. If he was going to travel through a whole region on his own she wanted to be certain that he was prepared for any situation.

* * *

Meanwhile Ash was sprinting through Pallet Town heading towards Professor Oak's lab, he knew that it probably made him look a little childish but he didn't care. Ever since he was young he'd always been excited about Pokémon and he never wanted to lose that enthusiasm. A few minutes later Ash arrived at the Professor's lab and decided against simply barging in choosing instead to knock on the door which swung open moments later revealing the old professor.

"Well hello Ash. I assume you are here to see your Pokémon."

"Yeah I need to talk to them about my plans for the next League we challenge."

Professor Oak stepped aside allowing Ash to walk through his lab and into the corral where he was quickly surrounded by his Pokémon with the at this point obligatory Body Slam from Bayleef who started to nuzzle him. The grass types affection drew a chuckle from Ash as he wrapped his arms around her tightly, when he released his hold on Bayleef the grass type reluctantly got off Ash letting him get back up. All the Pokémon then focussed fully on Ash, they could tell by the look in his eyes that he must have something important to say.

"Listen everyone I have something very important to tell you all. Registration for The Unova League begins in five months and between now and then I intend for us to train hard. We came close in Sinnoh and had it not been for Tobias and his legendary Pokémon we could have won. That's why I've come to a decision that I should have made years ago, I'm intensifying our training. From now on it will be more than simple practice matches with each other, I'll be doing training to increase your move pool and improve your stamina, speed and durability. Our training will begin tomorrow so everyone get ready for some serious training."

Everyone cheered clearly excited at the prospect of training and conquering wherever they were headed to next. Ash was proud to see the optimism in his Pokémon although he did notice a few didn't seem quite as enthusiastic as others and wasn't surprised to see that they were some that he did secretly harbour doubts on whether they were cut out for the intense training he had in mind. He knew that mentally they would all be willing to do anything, he just didn't know if they could physically deal with it.

Ash had always stuck by his morals of never forcing his Pokémon to evolve and he would stand by that forever but that did leave the problem of the power gap between them and their evolved states. Now while some had overcome that one way or another, Pikachu and Bulbasaur being two perfect examples he wasn't sure if some of the others could do the same. This led to a big question that he didn't know the answer to; could he really tell his Pokémon that he couldn't use them because they weren't strong enough? It would obviously crush the spirit of whoever it was and would that in turn force them to evolve just so Ash would use them?

'Ash what's wrong?' Pikachu asked breaking Ash out of his thoughts.

"It's just a problem I'm trying to solve."

'Can I help?'

Pikachu's offer made Ash pause for a moment, he did consider telling his best friend about his concerns but that could lead to the mouse interpreting that he wasn't strong enough which wasn't the case. After a quick internal debate, Ash decided that for the time being it was better if none of his Pokémon knew of his concerns.

"Not right now, thanks for the offer though."

The mouse looked disappointed that Ash hadn't shared what was troubling him however Pikachu quickly a smile back on his face. He jumped off Ash's shoulder and went over to the rest of the Pokémon, chatting with them about what training Ash may have in mind. Seeing that his Pokémon were distracted for now Ash went back towards the lab spotting several Pokémon he would like to add to his team, he then saw the dust cloud being created by his Tauros and had an idea. He quickly rushed into Professor Oak's lab and found the old man tinkering with some device on his desk.

"Hey Professor Oak."

The old man had been so focussed on his work that Ash's outburst shocked him making him nearly drop what he had been working on. Luckily, he managed to keep hold of it and decided to put down the device he'd been working just in case. Once he was sure the device was safe he swilled his chair so he was facing Ash who had a guilty look on his face.

"Sorry for startling you Professor."

"Don't worry about it Ash, no harm was done so it's fine. To be honest I wasn't expecting to see you for a few hours, I thought you'd be with your Pokémon."

"Well I wanted to give them some time before I start our new training regime, I wandered around a bit and saw all my Tauros which gave me an idea. I wanted to see if you could do me a favour and see if the Safari Zone would be willing to trade some Pokémon for my Tauros? I really don't need thirty of them and I know that thanks to me catching so many they don't have many there."

"I'll see what I can do Ash, I doubt they'll give you many Pokémon for them though, Tauros isn't exactly a much-requested Pokémon."

"That's fine, I'd rather have quality over quantity. Right I'd better get going now, I'll see you tomorrow Professor."

"Farewell Ash."

With that Ash turned around to go back to the corral so he could get Pikachu and saw that the mouse had been stood right behind him. Pikachu wasted no time taking up his usual position on Ash's shoulder and Ash scratched the mouse's head earning a content sigh from him. The pair then left Professor Oak's lab heading straight home so Ash could start learning the skills he'd need on his upcoming adventure.

* * *

Author's Notes

Thank you all for reading I hope you enjoyed what you read.

Next time we'll have some of the training and probably a battle.

If you have any suggestions I'd be happy to hear them.


	3. An Old Friend & An Even Older Enemy

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this has been so far. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you.

I've been thinking that since Ash will have a lot of Pokémon it could be difficult for you guys to keep up with who he has so should I put a list of the Pokémon Ash had at the bottom of my story or on my profile?

Sorry for the long wait, I wasn't quite sure how I wanted to do this chapter but I'm happy with it now. I hope you will be too.

Also, should I do poll and if so what should it be on?

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is of course regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

To say Ash's first cooking attempt was a disaster would be a massive understatement, he'd made a complete mess of the kitchen and set the apron he'd been wearing on fire. Ash had nigh on ripped the apron off and thrown on the floor, luckily Mimey had a fire extinguisher on hand and quickly put out the flames. Once the panic was over and the kitchen was cleaned Delia turned to her son and saw that Ash looked despondent which considering what had happened wasn't that surprising.

"Cheer up honey, I didn't expect you to become a master chef in a day, it takes hard work just like becoming a great trainer and I know that you'll pick cooking up soon. Now I guess I'll get dinner started."

"Can I help?" Ash asked hopefully.

"Sure, can you prepare the vegetables for me?"

Ash nodded, glad that he was being allowed to help. He'd honestly been expecting to be told to just set the table and stay as far away from the kitchen as possible considering what had happened during his first lesson. He picked up a knife and started chopping the veg, humming a tune he remembered his mum used to do to get him to sleep. A smile crept on Delia's face as she heard the familiar tune and quickly joined in with Ash. She cast a glance over at Ash and her smile brightened as she thought about the time they'd spent together today. Despite his rather poor first cooking attempt Delia had enjoyed spending the afternoon with Ash, since he'd become a trainer it had felt like he'd drifted away from her but today it felt just like it had before he left on his first adventure.

"Hey mum you okay?" Ash inquired pulling Delia out of her reverie.

"Yes, it's just I'm glad you're home."

"So am I."

The pair fell into a comfortable silence after that, the only sounds being the preparation of dinner and the occasional conversation. Once dinner was ready they sat down with Pikachu and Mimey to eat, tonight Pikachu was a bit more carfeul with the ketchup and didn't end up feeling sick.

It didn't take long for dinner to vanish as Ash once again scoffed the food down. Ash then helped his mother wash the dishes when they were done and after spending a couple of hours discussing what Delia had planned for the next few months Ash decided to get an early night. Ash struggled to get any rest, the excitement and anticipation for the start of his training making it hard for him to sleep however he eventually fell to sleep.

* * *

The next morning Ash woke up early and after scoffing his breakfast in no time at all he headed to Professor Oak's lab, he knew that there was a chance some of his Pokémon were still asleep but he wanted to start training as early as possible. When he got to the lab he knocked on the door and was greeted by Professor Oak who was once again holding the device he'd been working on yesterday.

"Good morning Ash, I wasn't expecting to see you so early."

"Yeah well I kind of want to get training as early as possible so I have plenty of time to train and get home to learn what I'll need to travel alone from mum."

"Ah so you've asked your mother for help in preparing you for your next adventure, I'm impressed."

A rush of pride surged through Ash at the Professor's words, he'd heard Professor Oak say how impressed he was with him before when he had come home from every adventure. This time was different though as he could tell that it had been even more heartfelt than usual. He then followed the Professor as he started walking through his lab.

"Thanks Professor, now I'm going to get started with my training."

"Wait Ash before you go I have good news, I spoke with the owners of the Kanto Safari Zone and they are willing to trade six of your Tauros and give you a Scyther in return. They'd offer more but they're only trading Pokémon that are not settled in the Safari Zone."

Ash couldn't stop the massive grin that appeared on his face, he had secretly been hoping for a Scyther for the Safari Zone but hadn't wanted to set himself up for disappointment. He had admired the power of Scyther ever since he'd fought against one in the Indigo League and seen its power on display. Watching Tracey's had only furthered his admiration and then the battle against Bugsy in Johto had cemented a desire for that Pokémon. The problem was he'd never visited an area where they lived, he internally cursed himself for not trying to trade his Tauros sooner.

"That's great, call them and get it done as soon as possible."

"Okay Ash, I'll come get you when the trade is done."

"Thanks Professor, could you also look around for anyone interested in a Tauros? I want to trade as many of them as possible and I think that the Safari Zone won't want many more."

"I'll send out the word, I'm sure I have a few contacts who'd be interested in a Tauros or two."

Ash thanked the Professor again for all his help, he then walked through his lab and into the corral. Once he was in the corral Ash looked around and wasn't surprised to see that most of his Pokémon were resting, in fact apart from Charizard who was training everyone appeared to still be sleeping.

Ash walked towards Charizard since he was the only one awake, while he walked towards the fire type he couldn't help but wonder why the dragon was back here. The last he knew Charizard was happy in the valley with Charla so seeing him here again was strange. He wasn't about to complain though, he had missed Charizard a lot and he felt a bit guilty that he hadn't at least called Liza to make Charizard was okay.

Once Charizard saw Ash coming his way he stopped training and approached his trainer, as soon as he was close enough Ash hugged Charizard tightly. The action startled the dragon who wasn't used to physical contact like this but he quickly got over his shock and returned Ash's embrace.

"I'm glad you're back Charizard."

The dragon rumbled in response and since everyone else was asleep he rubbed his head affectionately against Ash's face. This time it was Ash's turn to be surprised, he hadn't really acted this way since he was a Charmander mostly due to his pride. Ash tightened his hold on Charizard briefly and then the pair broke apart, there was a silent agreement between the two saying not to mention this to anyone. Charizard had a reputation to uphold after all.

"So, I guess I'm a bit early aren't I? How much longer are they usually asleep?"

A quick glance up at the sun's position gave Charizard the answer he needed and he raised a single claw up to Ash.

"An hour, I don't think I can sit and wait that long. Can you go and wake everyone up for me?"

The dragon nodded and then smirked at Ash, a sense of dread filled Ash as he could tell what Charizard was about to do and before he could do anything Charizard roared louder than Ash had ever heard before. This unsurprisingly woke up every Pokémon in the corral not just the ones belonging to him. Ash looked away sheepishly as many of the Pokémon glared at him and Charizard who didn't look sorry at all for his actions.

"That wasn't quite what I had in mind." Ash muttered

Charizard merely shrugged in response and formed up with the rest of Ash's Pokémon who had quickly surrounded him, many grumbling probably about being woken up so early however they were all fully focussed on their trainer Especially Bayleef who to everyone's shock didn't jump on Ash and instead settled for simply nuzzling him. Ash didn't mind the affection and was glad that the grass type had chosen not to Body Slam him again as he seriously doubted if he could keep getting Body Slammed by her every day.

"Okay guys I want to apologise for the way you were woken up, that wasn't quite how I was hoping Charizard would do that but you need to know that I intend for us to begin our training early in the day. We'll be training until lunch and then I'll head home to learn what I need from mum, sometimes I'll come back in the evenings for a little more training but in general after lunch you're free to do whatever you want for the rest of the days."

It was a relief for Ash to see all his Pokémon seemingly agreeing with the idea, although he did notice that a few had paled at the prospect of waking up early. He knew that it probably wasn't the most ideal schedule but to begin with he had to put as much time as he could into learning skills from his mother. It would be no good having a strong team if he couldn't travel to Unova alone.

"So, for our first session I want everyone who can't fly to do ten laps around the corral and before you complain I know that running laps sounds boring but I really I want to improve your stamina and it'll be a good warmup."

Even though several of the Pokémon groaned they all quickly started their first training exercise. Ash was glad to see that not only were they all participating but they were also sticking together which didn't surprise him as by now they had become one big family. There was one Pokémon who hadn't started the exercise though as he was still sat on Ash's shoulder. A quick glance at the mouse was all it took for Pikachu to jump off Ash's shoulder and chase after the rest of his teammates. Ash turned his attention from the runners to his flying types who were all looking at their friend wondering what he had in store for them.

"Alright I want you guys to…."

Ash stopped when he saw something flying towards them erratically, he then had to quickly dodge out of the way as a Pidgeot crashed into the ground where he'd been standing. It only took a single glance to know that this was the Pidgeot he had left with the flock. The flying type was quickly pulled out of the mini crater she had made with her crash landing by Charizard who placed her gently on the ground.

"Pidgeot? What the hell happened to you?! Did Fearow come back and do this?"

A small nod was all Ash got before Pidgeot passed out, Ash looked at one of his most loyal Pokémon and felt his anger building. He'd not been this angry for a long time and now only wanted Fearow to pay for what he had done to Pidgeot.

"That does it, I am sick of that damn Fearow. We are going to put an end to his reign of terror. Heracross take Pidgeot to Professor Oak and then tell everyone else what happened."

Heracross nodded, he then picked up Pidgeot and flew towards Professor Oak's lab. Ash then jumped on Charizard's back who launched himself into the air followed closely by Noctowl, Swellow, Staraptor and Gliscor all of whom looked furious. The group headed straight towards where Pidgeot and the flock lived, intent on making Fearow suffer for harming a member of their family.

* * *

It only took a couple of minutes for the group to reach what had become a warzone, the ground was covered in unconscious Pidgey, Pidgeotto and Spearow while countless more fought in the sky. While the remaining Pidgey and Pidgeotto fought bravely it was obvious that they were outnumbered and on the verge of being overwhelmed.

"Swellow, Noctowl and Staraptor I need you to lead the Pidgey and Pidgeotto against the Spearow while Charizard, Gliscor and me deal with Fearow."

The trio of birds nodded and immediately flew towards the beleaguered Pidgey and Pidgeotto, deciding to attack the aggressive Spearow from behind. The flank attack confused the Spearow who were fighting a war on two fronts now, several broke off from the attack on their original targets and focussed their efforts on Swellow, Noctowl and Staraptor. This evened the fight for the Pidgey and Pidgeotto who gradually pushed the Spearow flock back.

From a distance Fearow watched on with a look of disdain, after ambushing that Pidgeot he was certain that they would crush the flock and take over their territory. However due to interference from that wretched boy and his Pokémon his plans had been ruined again. With the battle clearly lost he started his tactical retreat but was quickly stopped by the boy and his Charizard appearing in front of him. A red mist came over Fearow and he instantly forgot about his plans to retreat and aimed a Drill Peck at the boy which was easily dodged by the Charizard's quick movement.

Ash knew that this fight was down to Charizard, there was no way he'd be able to call out commands quick enough in what was quickly becoming a battle of life or death. He watched as Fearow once again charged at them and held onto Charizard tightly expecting him to dodge again but the dragon didn't move. When Fearow was less than a metre away Charizard made his move, and grabbed Fearow by his beak and held tightly stopping him from continuing his attack, the flying type glared and flailed in the dragon's grip but couldn't escape.

"Now Gliscor use Giga Impact!" Ash yelled.

Fearow had been so focussed on fighting Ash and Charizard that he hadn't noticed Gliscor fly above him waiting for his moment to strike. The trapped flying type look up and saw Gliscor shooting towards him covered in a purple aura and yellow-orange streaks. Moments before Gliscor would hit Fearow the hold on his beak was released but before he could relish his freedom Gliscor slammed down on his back and drove him straight to the ground leaving the battered flying type in a small crater. Fearow let out an enraged cry and tried to retaliate but despite his best efforts he couldn't get back up. Charizard landed next to the crumple form of Fearow just in case he tried to escape, Ash then leapt off the dragons back and looked at the flying type who was glaring at him with the most hateful look he had ever seen.

"I'm guessing you don't like me very much, well guess what pal the feelings mutual. You're a complete menace to anyone and trust me if I had any other choice you would be nowhere near any of my family but I have no choice."

Ash quickly typed a message to Professor Oak telling him that he was about to capture a Fearow and to not let it out until he got there. It was blantantly obvious that Fearow was dangerous and would likely hurt the old man. Ash then threw a Pokéball at Fearow who had started to recover from the Giga Impact and was in the process of pushing himself up. The ball thudded against Fearow's body and in a flash of red light sucked him inside, everyone watched with baited breath as the Pokéball wobbled until finally a ding indicated that Fearow had been captured. The ball then vanished into thin air as it was transported back to Professor Oak's Lab.

Ash looked around at what had become a warzone and saw that several of the Spearow had either fled or were in the process of helping the injured ones. It was clear that without their leader they were in disarray but Ash couldn't bring himself to care about them right now. The Pidgey and Pidgeotto were his priority since they were the innocent party here and after doing everything they could to help the Pidgey and Pidgeotto that had been injured Ash and his Pokémon made their way back to Professor Oak's Lab to check on Pidgeot.

* * *

Authors Notes

Well there's chapter 3, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.


	4. A New Team Member

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this was. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you.

I'd like to apologise for the year long absence, a lot has happened over that time and I had no free time to dedicate to fanfic writing. I won't make any promises for frequent updates, all I will say is that I will upload new chapters as often as possible.

A poll has been added to my profile, it's something that I'd like your opinion on regarding Unova.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is of course regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

As soon as Ash and co landed in Professor Oak's corral, he and Charizard charged straight towards the lab hoping that Pidgeot would be okay. They burst into the room where Professor Oak tended to any injured Pokémon and saw Pidgeot resting on a bed, her body covered in bandages hiding the multitude of wounds caused by Fearow. Ash walked over to the bed and gently stroked Pidgeot, running his fingers through her feathers just as he had done many years ago. He dropped his head in shame, remembering the promise he had made her before he left the Orange Islands. A promise that he failed to keep.

"This is all my fault, I promised that I'd come back for her and I never did."

"You're far too harsh on yourself my boy."

Ash spun on the spot and found himself face to face with Professor Oak who studied Ash carefully and was saddened by the way he was behaving. Ash had always been like a second grandson to him and he hated seeing him blaming himself and sounding so dejected by what happened because of an angry Fearow. He placed what he hoped was a comforting hand on Ash's shoulder and glanced at Pidgeot who was still asleep.

"Don't you worry about Pidgeot, she's one tough bird. Trust me she'll be fine, I've bandaged her wounds and she just needs a few days' rest."

Relief flooded through Ash and he felt himself relax at the knowledge that Pidgeot would be fine despite the wounds she had sustained. Seeing that Ash was feeling better Professor Oak took his hand away from Ash's shoulder and motioned for him to follow him. Ash reluctantly left Pidgeot and followed Professor Oak into the room where all the Pokéballs were stored on shelves, apart from one which was on the Professor desk.

"Now I'd like us to move on to the pressing matter of this Fearow you caught. You've made it sound dangerous and I know a place he can go where he wouldn't be able to harm someone but before I send Fearow to them it would be helpful to know why this Fearow is so aggressive."

"It's because I threw a rock at his head on the first day of my Pokémon adventure."

"Why would you do such a thing? You don't need to throw rocks to catch a Pokémon in the wild you had a starter Pokémon with you… oh right."

Pikachu's ears drooped, and a guilty look appeared on his face as he remembered that day when he had almost lost the greatest thing that had ever happened to him. There were times when he wondered what could have happened had that superpowered Thundershock not sent all the Spearow fleeing. Ash could see that Pikachu was once again feeling guilty for what happened that day and took the mouse off his shoulder and hugged him tightly.

"Don't worry buddy everything worked out for the best, you saved me in the end."

Ash suddenly felt something grab onto his leg, he looked down and saw a Pokémon he hadn't seen since he'd beaten Brandon in the Battle Frontier. He placed Pikachu back on his shoulder and picked up his faithful water type who immediately hugged Ash.

"Squirtle? What are you doing here?"

The water type didn't answer Ash and continued hugging his old friend, even though he loved spending time with the Squirtle Squad he'd missed his old trainer and knew that this was where he belonged. Ash continued to maintain his embrace on Squirtle as he waited for a response. After several minutes he finally looked at Professor Oak hoping he would have an explanation and saw that the old man was chuckling most likely at bemused look on his face.

"Since Squirtle's not about to explain I shall, since you've decided to really get serious with your training I thought you earned the chance of getting back some of your old Pokémon. So, I made some calls and found that Squirtle here was anxious to re-join you for good."

"Thank you, Professor."

"It's no problem my boy and I have one last surprise for you, Ash may I introduce you to your newest Pokémon."

Professor Oak took a Pokéball out of his pocket and opened it, Ash watched in excitement as he was expecting to come face to face with a Scyther but was instead greeted by its evolved form. Its red body shone in the daylight and Ash could tell that it had massive amounts of potential. Professor Oak chuckled at the astounded look on Ash's face which drew the young man's attention away from Scizor to him.

"I can see you're both surprised and impressed, I have to admit I was too. I hadn't expected them to trade Scyther with a Metal Coat."

"Was he okay with evolving? I won't be comfortable using a Pokémon that was forced to evolve. Did you want to evolve?"

Scizor was surprised at the young man's outburst, he hadn't heard someone speak so passionately about if a Pokémon was forced to evolve. Usually he had heard trainers bragging about how quickly they'd evolved their Pokémon and how strong it had made them. The thought had angered him to this very day so finding a trainer who shared his views made him start to respect him, he clearly cared for his Pokémon deeply and if the Pokémon that had accompanied him were anything to go by he's a strong trainer. Scizor noticed that the trainer was looking at him worriedly presumably over his evolution, he placed a claw on the young man's shoulder and nodded in response to Ash's question.

"Well that's a relief."

"Your compassion for your Pokémon never ceases to amaze me Ash."

"Well they're my family, I wouldn't want them to be forced into anything. So, do want to meet your new family Scizor?"

Scizor merely nodded in response too shocked at already being welcomed as part of their family, he followed Ash who was still carrying Squirtle in his arms into the Corral. Once outside Scizor was amazed to see several Pokémon all doing various types of training, during his time in the Safari Zone he'd seen a few Pokémon train but most had done nothing more than sleep or walk around the Safari Zone. He'd hated that, he loved to battle and where he was there was no chance of that happening but now it seemed like he'd get the challenges he had desired.

* * *

Author's Notes

Thank you all for reading I hope you enjoyed what you read.

I know this is short but I wanted to upload something just to show that I was back.

If you have any suggestions I'd be happy to hear them.


	5. The Training Begins

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this was. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you.

Please vote on the poll regarding the Unova region, it will have quite an impact on the story depending on which one you choose. I'll leave it up until I upload the next chapter.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is of course regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

The sight of all his Pokémon training was no surprise to Ash, while he had given some of them instructions prior to the incident with Fearow those regimes would be done by now. What they were doing now was clearly a way of them not focussing on Pidgeot since they had not been informed of her condition. While the reason they were training, and battling wasn't ideal it was a relief to see that his Pokémon were clearly ready for the heavy training he had planned. Ash glanced at Scizor and could see he was impressed by what he was seeing, he followed the bug's line of sight and saw that he was watching a battle between Heracross and Infernape clearly scouting out his fellow bug type.

A few of Ash's Pokémon spotted their trainer and quickly ran over to him bringing the rest of his Pokémon with them. They all stood around Ash anxiously, a few of them were taking glances at the Scizor wondering who he was but most were looking worriedly at Ash waiting to hear about Pidgeot's condition.

"Alright everyone first I'd like to say I was very impressed by the training you were doing. Secondly, we have a new member of our family, this is Scizor. Finally, you'll all be relieved to hear that Pidgeot is going to be okay."

A loud cheer erupted from the Pokémon as they heard that Pidgeot would be okay, the reaction startled Scizor and showed him that this random group of Pokémon were exactly what Ash had said, they were a family. The group then welcomed Scizor to the family, greeting him mostly with handshakes or at least the closest thing they could do to handshakes or in the case of Charizard and Sceptile a quick nod. The last one to step forward was Heracross who held a hand up to the much taller bug, Scizor quickly returned the gesture and lightly clamped a claw around Heracross' hand. The pair shook hands and the both Scizor's and Heracross' eyes narrowed as a friendly rivalry was formed.

With everyone fully introduced they all turned their attention back to Ash waiting for instructions, while the day's events had shaken some of them they all wanted to get training in preparation for their next adventure. While Ash was tempted to begin the training, he had planned for today he didn't have a lot of time left before he needed to get home and take his second shot at cooking.

"I think that after the events of today it'll be best if we start our training tomorrow. You're free to spend the rest of today doing what you want."

A chorus of disappointed groans came from the group as many had been up for starting their new training, a minority of the group though were secretly happy with Ash's decision though they'd never admit it at loud. Ash could see the disappointment in their eyes, it was once again something that encouraged Ash as it showed that his Pokémon were ready to train hard and get stronger for the Unova region.

"Our training will start tomorrow though so you'd better be ready for that, if you want you can do some more warm up battles this afternoon to prepare yourself. Just take it easy, I don't want our training to have to be delayed because of a few injuries."

Another cheer erupted from the Pokémon and most of them quickly paired up and started battling, Ash was cursing his luck as he saw some great matchups including Swellow against Staraptor, Sceptile against Infernape and Buizel against Squritle. With a grumble Ash walked back to the lab trying to block out the sounds of battle coming from the corral behind him. As he walked through the lab he saw the room Pidgeot was being kept in, he thought about going inside but could see she was asleep and decided to not risk waking her up and let her rest. After saying a quick goodbye to Professor Oak and Tracey, Ash headed home so he could try to learn how to cook without setting himself on fire.

* * *

The second attempt at cooking went far better than the first, at least this time nothing had caught fire, so the new fire extinguisher was left unused. That was the only improvement though as the burnt mess in the pan proved. Delia looked at the meal that Ash had charcoaled and then to his face expecting to have to console him after another failed attempt at cooking. Just as Delia was about to say something Ash burst out laughing, his reaction surprised her, and she couldn't stop herself from joining in.

"I think I managed to make something that even Snorlax wouldn't eat. On the bright side, at least I didn't set anything on fire tonight."

"Exactly, you've made an improvement."

Seeing that there was no impending danger Pikachu left his position near the fire extinguisher and walked over to Ash's attempt at a meal, he sniffed the burnt meal and his face scrunched up at the terrible smell making both Ash and Delia laugh again at the mouse's face. Pikachu pouted and crossed his arms in response however the look soon faded when Ash placed a bottle of ketchup in front of the mouse. With Pikachu placated Delia started to make dinner with Ash helping a little more than he did yesterday.

* * *

After dinner Ash sat down on the couch in the living room with a laptop on the coffee table. Like last night he was plans however this time he was deciding on something completely different to last night. This time he was thinking about what moves he should teach his Pokémon. It had become apparent to him that some of his Pokémon didn't have a good variety of moves at their disposal. Some of them had only moves of their own type which would make it very difficult if they were his last Pokémon in a battle. The first Pokémon he typed in was Pikachu, while his best friend had a few different moves the battle with Paul had shown that it didn't provide enough cover. Suddenly Pikachu walked into the living room having finished his meal and jumped up on the couch next to Ash.

"Hey buddy"

'Hey Ash.' Pikachu then spotted a Pikachu on the screen with a bunch of moves listed below in. 'What are you doing?'

"Well I want to teach you all some new moves in preparation for our next journey, so you can fight more Pokémon effectively."

Seeing the logic in his trainers thought process, Pikachu nodded and started looking through all the moves some of which he had never heard before. Ash was doing the same and running into similar problems especially when it came to moves that sounded to ridiculous to be real. Eventually Ash came across a move he certainly hadn't expected to see listed as a move that Pikachu could learn. He clicked on the move which brought up a full description of it as well as a demonstrational video.

"Grass Knot? A Pikachu can really learn Grass Knot?"

Ash pressed the play button on the demonstrational video still not believing that it was possible for a Pikachu to learn the move. The video began playing with a Pikachu appearing on the screen facing a Quagsire, both Ash and Pikachu watched the screen closely wondering whether they were about to see the move or if this was just a joke. Suddenly the Pikachu's eyes glowed greenish for a split second and then vines shot up from the ground around Quagsire and wrapped around its feet. The vines then tripped Quagsire and several vines wrapped around it's body as it fell to the ground trapping it in place. Ash and Pikachu were shocked by what they had seen, and both knew that that was exactly the move that Pikachu needed to learn.

"Well considering that'll give you cover in case we fight something with a ground typing, I think Grass Knot is the way to go."

Pikachu nodded and gave Ash a thumbs up showing he agreed with the idea, as they watched the move again they both thought how many times a move like that would have come in useful in the past. After quickly writing down how to teach the move on a nearby notepad Ash closed the page on Pikachu and opened a new one, this time on Bulbasaur. Ash looked at the clock and was glad that he'd started on this now as it was going to take a long time to get through every one of his Pokémon.

* * *

The next morning Ash headed to Professor Oak's lab with Pikachu as always stood on his shoulder, he had his laptop under his right arm to help teach his Pokémon the new moves he had planned for them. He wasn't going to bring it at first as he had written down the moves and how to learn them but watching the moves in action would no doubt help too. They walked into the coral and saw that all the Pokémon had apparently already started warming up for today's training. The Pokémon who could fly were strafing between the trees in the wooded section of the coral while all the others were either running laps around the coral or swimming laps in the lake. Ash chuckled as he saw some of them were clearly trying to outdo each other, the best example being Scizor and Heracross who were running side by side both carrying a large rock.

Seeing that everyone was training Ash knew that he needed to do something to get all their attention at once, he looked at Pikachu and nodded. With that Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and fired a Thunderbolt into the air immediately getting everyone's attention, they all stopped the training they had been doing and grouped up in front of their trainer. The only exception being Bayleef who had leapt onto Ash and was in the process of nuzzling him. The grass type was eventually convinced to let her trainer get up and she stood with the rest of the Pokémon looking up at Ash.

"So, over the next few months I want to work on your becoming physically stronger and expand your move sets a bit because to be honest some of your move sets are well shallow is an understatement. I don't want any of you to blame yourselves for your move sets, that's on me. I haven't done my best to give you guys the training you needed but that ends now, I'm going to teach you one at a time and by the time we head to Unova you'll all know at least three new moves."

Everyone cheered at Ash's statement, although Ash couldn't help but notice that some more of them were far more excited at the prospect than others. It didn't surprise Ash that much, he knew that certain ones there weren't as interested as battling as others. He looked across all his Pokémon and wondered whether he should talk to them individually about how they felt on the new training. He didn't want them to feel forced into training hard if they weren't that interested in battling. After a moment of thought he decided that he had to talk to them and give them the option now, so they could choose if they wanted to train or not.

"Alright Bulbasaur you're up first, everyone else I want you to pair up and start some practice battles, but it can't be a battle against someone you commonly fight."

They all quickly found a partner and started battling as asked, this left Ash and Bulbasaur alone. The latter quickly walked over to a nearby tree and sat in the shade, he turned on the laptop ad was immediately joined in the shade by Bulbasaur who was sat next to him eager to find out what Ash had planned for his training. The grass type watched as picture of him as well as a list of moves appeared on the screen.

Ash looked at Bulbasaur, it hadn't been easy trying to choose what moves to teach him as Bulbasaur had very few moves outside of its own typing's. He'd taken a lot of time carefully choosing the moves as even though the grass type had always done him proud he only had grass moves and, in the future, he would need a variety of moves. Ash clicked on Sludge Bomb and played the video for Bulbasaur who studied it carefully. Once the video ended Bulbasaur looked Ash in the eye and nodded completely agreeing with Ash's decision. The grass type then got up and started walking away to start training to learn Sludge Bomb.

"Don't you need my help?"

Bulbasaur shook his head and used ones of his vines to point as some of Ash's less experience Pokémon indicating that they would need more help than him. The response didn't surprise Ash, Bulbasaur was seen as the leader of the group probably more so than Pikachu because he was always thinking of the others first and was one of the wisest Pokémon here. Ash placed his laptop on the ground and walked over to Bulbasaur, he crouched and hugged him feeling a couple of vines wrap around him to return it.

"Okay Bulbasaur, do me a favour and tell Squirtle to come over here."

Bulbasaur responded with a nod and released his hold on Ash, he then ran over to Squirtle directing him to Ash who had sat back under the tree. While he waited for Squirtle Ash looked over at his Pokémon and knew that this would take a long time to teach each of them the first move he had planned but it would be well worth the time and effort. Ash spotted Squirtle headed his way and he smiled as he thought about when Squirtle joined his team back in his first year of being a trainer. Squirtle sat next to Ash and like Bulbasaur and Pikachu had he looked at the screen curiously and then turned his gaze to Ash

"So, you ready to see what move I want you to learn?"

* * *

Authors Notes

Well there's chapter 5, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.


	6. The Journey Begins

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this was. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you.

This chapter contains my first battle, I hope you all enjoy it.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is of course regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

Time went by quickly and before Ash knew it his five months had passed making today the day he would leave for the Unova League. He was stood in Professor Oak's lab wearing the new outfit his mother had made and carrying a large rucksack carrying everything from medical supplies to food. Right now, Ash was struggling to decide how many of his Pokémon he should take with him to Unova, it was tempting to just go with Pikachu again like he did for Hoenn and to a certain degree Sinnoh, but he wanted to bring his current Pokémon to help train newer ones and help with tough gym battles.

"I can see that you're agonising over how many of your Pokémon to take with you to Unova and I have something that will help you. I've been so impressed by your growth over the past few months that I've decided to give you the ability to carry three additional Pokémon. That way you can catch several new Pokémon and have some of your more experienced ones there to help train them."

Ash couldn't believe he was being trusted with the capability to carry more than six Pokémon, to his knowledge the only people who also had this was the Elite Four and Champions of each region. He briefly wondered if he was deserving of such a gift but decided against voicing his concerns. If Professor Oak thought, he was worthy that was good enough for him.

"I also have one more gift for you, I've been working on it for months"

Professor Oak pulled the device he had been working on out of his pocket and presented it to Ash who looked at the device wondering what the big deal is. To him it just looked like a standard Pokenav which considering he was heading to a new region wouldn't be that useful to him since he already had one.

"It's a Pokenav." Ash then pressed a few of the buttons hoping it would show something that made it special, but the screen stayed blank. "Make that a broken Pokenav."

"I know the problem, I forgot to insert the last component. Wait here while I rectify that."

Ash did as Professor Oak asked and waited patiently in the lab but after ten minutes he started to feel his patience wane and stepped into the Professor's office to see what was taking so long. To Ash's surprise the Professor was nowhere to be seen which considering this was the main area he chose to work in was odd. Ash left the office wondering where the Professor had gone and was about to continue his search when he nearly ran into Gary.

"Hey Gary, have you seen your grandfather?"

"Yeah, I saw Gramps headed to the room we store all the Pokéballs in, why?"

"Well he said he needed to finish the device he was working on. I wonder why he went to the storage room."

This made Both Ash and Gary curious, so they headed towards the storage room intent on finding out why the older Oak had gone in there. They got to the door and Gary reached out to grab the doorknob when suddenly the door burst open revealing Professor Oak holding the Pokenav in his hand. He pressed a few buttons and then held it out in front of Ash and Gary earning a confused look from both as they tried to figure out what the big deal was. A glowing orb was suddenly projected from the screen startling both boys which made Professor Oak chuckle.

"Alright now it's ready. Ash I'd like to introduce you to Navi."

"Hey! Listen!"

"Oh Arceus no. I'm having flashbacks of Zelda."

"I apologise Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, with the name I was given I couldn't resist making the reference." (Imagine the voice of EDI from Mass Effect).

"You can just call me Ash."

"Very well Ash."

Professor Oak once again pressed a few buttons which made the projection of Navi vanish, he then handed the Pokenav to Ash who stared at the device. It was odd having a Pokenav talking to him, the closest thing to this he had had was Dexter, but Navi seemed far more advanced than his old Pokedex. Ash put his new Pokenav in his pocket and zipped it up to keep it safe.

"So, I'm guessing that Navi is like what Dexter was for the Pokedex."

"Exactly, the only difference is Navi is a little more advanced than Dexter. You'll find out more during your adventure. Well, now that we have that sorted which Pokémon are you going to take with you to Unova?"

"I'll take Buizel and Gible since they're both close to evolving and I'll take Swellow, so I've got a flyer with me."

"Alright Ash you go and collect your Pokémon, we'll see you outside the lab when you're done."

Ash nodded at the older Oak and sprinted out of the lab making sure to pick up the three Pokéballs he would need for his chosen Pokémon. As they saw him charge out into the corral both Professor Oak and Gary chuckled at Ash. One was glad to see that while Ash had changed and matured over the past few months he still had a lot of the traits that had helped him get this far. Meanwhile the other wondering if Ash had really achieved much during the past five months and whether he was ready to challenge Unova.

* * *

In the corral Ash had been instantly swarmed by his Pokémon and was currently trying to get Bayleef off him. While he did appreciate her affection getting Body Slammed by her now hurt a bit more since she had gotten stronger in the past five months. To Ash's relief Bayleef reluctantly allowed him to get up but she was nuzzling against him. It was obvious that she was desperate to be one of the ones joining Ash in Unova, but he had a plan for when these Pokémon would be brought over, and she had a role to play later.

"Well as you all know today is the day I'm heading to Unova and since the Professor has given me the ability to carry three more Pokémon I will be taking three of you with me; Buizel, Gible and Swellow. I promise you all will come and join me in Unova at some point."

Despite the disappointment many of them were feeling all the Pokémon cheered clearly excited to get their shot at Unova, it surprised Ash to see some of the Pokémon who weren't as fond of battling appearing just as enthused. Over the past five months he had been trying to come up with a way to talk to the ones he thought weren't as interested in battling but had never found the right thing to say. He eventually came up with a riskier solution which would hopefully give him the opportunity to talk to them about it. He would use them in gym battles against Pokémon they are strong against and if they lost he would be able to suggest them living here without being forced to battle.

"I'll see you soon everyone."

Ash returned the Pokémon he had selected to accompany him to Unova and started walking away from the rest of his Pokémon while waving goodbye. Ash walked through the lab and out the front door, just like he did on the first day of his Pokémon adventure however this time he was a lot more organised. It was a little surprising to see that all around Professor Oak's Lab the majority of Pallet Town was present. The entire crowd started to applaud and cheer for Ash which he found a little embarrassing, but he appreciated it nonetheless.

* * *

Once the applause ended e stood outside Ash looked around at everyone grateful for the support and then turned his attention to Gary who was this time stood by his side rather than trying to put him down like when they were younger. A quick nod was exchanged and then Delia pulled Ash into a customary bone crushing hug which he happily returned. He made a mental note to keep in contact with his mother more often, something he had failed to do in his previous adventures.

"So, I guess you're ready for your next adventure." Delia stated.

"Not yet, there's one last thing I need to do to prove that I'm ready for Unova." Ash released his grip on his mother and faced Gary once again. "Gary, I challenge you to a battle."

There was an almost eerie silence as everyone focussed on Gary wondering what the Professor in training would say. After a brief pause Gary took a Pokéball out of his pocket, grinned and looked Ash in the eye.

"Alright Ash, I accept. Let's see how you handle a Pokémon from Unova, go Scolipede."

'I got this.' Pikachu said as he leapt off Ash's shoulder.

"Sorry Pikachu but I'm not using you. Buizel I choose you!"

Pikachu pouted as he saw Buizel appear and take his signature arms crossed pose, the Scolipede looked strong and Pikachu had wanted to test his strength. With a sigh Pikachu took his place back on Ash's shoulder and resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn't get to battle until they arrived in Unova. The crowd were all interested to see how this battle went, they backed away to give the Pokémon enough room to battle without worrying about harming any of the gathered people.

"It's time to see how strong you've gotten Ash, Scolipede use Sludge Bomb."

"I'm more than ready to show our improvements, Buizel counter it with Water Pulse."

Scolipede opened his mouth and fired a ball of brown sludge from his mouth at Buizel who appeared to be completely unfazed by the attack headed his way. As the ball of sludge got closer Buizel formed an orb of water between his hands and he quickly launched it at the Sludge Bomb. The attacks collided and exploded creating a disgusting looking smog between the two Pokémon. After a few moments Buizel got tired of staring at the murky substance and shot a Water Gun at it to clear the air.

"Not bad Ash but countering moves will only get you so far. Bombard Buizel with Pin Missile."

"You're right Gary, use Sonic Boom."

The horns on Scolipede's glowed white, he then fired dozens of white orbs trailing green streams of light at Buizel who's two tails glowed white, he flipped into the air and sent a couple of large white shockwaves at the Pin Missiles. Everyone watched as the attacks rapidly approached each other, the attacks clashed, and the shockwaves scythed through the Pin Missiles and slammed into Scolipede making the bug stagger backwards more through shock than anything else.

"Not bad Ash, that Sonic Boom hit harder than I expected. However, while you may be able to stop attacks like Pin Missile there's no way you'll stop the next one, Scolipede use Megahorn."

"Match him with Aqua Jet."

Once again Gary was starting to question if Ash was as good as he thought, there was no way his much smaller Buizel could go head to head with a Megahorn from Scolipede. He shook his head and decided to see what happened, he watched as Scolipede's head glowed and he started charging towards Buizel who had been surrounded by water and had launched himself into the air. Gary watched as the pair rapidly approached one another and then to his surprise he saw Ash smirk. This immediately set alarm bells ringing but then thought that surely it was too late for Ash to do anything to stop whatever was about to happen.

"Spin to dodge, then hit him with an Iron Tail."

The water type did as instructed and span in mid-air, dodging Scolipede's Megahorn and causing it to almost overbalance. Buizel's twin tails quickly became hard as steel and he aimed his now metallic tails at Scolipede's head, the poison type turned around at the last moment to spot Buizel and came face to face with his metallic tails. This gave Scolipede no way to dodge or even prepare himself for the attack which slammed into his face, disorientating him and sending him crashing to the ground.

"Now Ice Aqua Jet!"

Water immediately surrounded Buizel again and he launched himself into the air, he then used the power of Ice Punch to turn the water into a solid block of ice which hurtled towards the still disorientated Scolipede. Just as Scolipede pushed himself back to his feet Buizel slammed into his back and drove him back into the ground, the force of the attack rose a cloud of dust which shrouded both Pokémon making them wonder what had happened.

While the gathered spectators waited for the dust to clear they saw Buizel walk out with a cocky smirk on his face, he walked over so he was stood in front of Ash and crossed his arms watching the dust cloud which was still hiding Scolipede. After a few tense moments the dust finally settled revealing Scolipede who's eyes had been replaced by swirls indicating that he'd been knocked out.

"Scolipede is unable to battle." Professor Oak declared.

Gary was both shocked at what had just happened and at the same time proud of his former rival, he knew that Ash had trained hard and gotten stronger over the past few months, but he hadn't expected him to have grown so much. He returned Scolipede thanking the poison type for his efforts and walked over to Ash who was hugging Buizel and congratulating him on the battle.

"You've really improved Ash, I'm sure you'll run rampant through the Unova League."

"Thanks Gary."

The former rivals then shook hands respectfully, a sign that the friendship they had once had was now fully rekindled. Gary turned his gaze to Buizel and could see how much the intense training Ash had been doing with his Pokémon had paid off. While many wouldn't notice the signs, he as an aspiring Professor could see the more toned features of Buizel showing a strength that few if any other Buizel possessed.

"You're a tough little Buizel aren't you?"

Buizel crossed his arms and nodded with a smirk on his face, suddenly the weasel started to glow a radiant white making everyone shield their eyes. When the light died down they turned their attention back to where Buizel had been stood and saw a cocky Floatzel in his place. Ash looked at Floatzel with pride, he'd known that he was on the verge of evolving but hadn't expected it to happen so soon.

"That was an impressive battle Ash." A female voice said.

"Yeah you've improved a lot since the Sinnoh League." A male voice added.

Ash's eyes widened as he recognised the voices, he turned around and a big grin appeared on his face as he came face to face with two old friends.

* * *

Authors Notes

Well there's chapter 6, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters.

I decided to skip the training of both Ash and his Pokémon simply because something similar will have been done by several other writers in various stories and I'd rather be pushing us closer to Unova and getting that started.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.

I'll be honest guys I originally planned to give Ash the Rotom Pokedex, but I decided to give him Navi instead for now. The Rotom Dex may come into play later thought.


	7. A Champion Returns

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this was. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is of course regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

"Brock? Misty? What are you guys doing here?"

"There was no way we were letting you go without saying goodbye." Misty replied.

"And wishing you good luck for Unova although I have a feeling you won't need luck this time. I just wish we could stay longer but we both need to go back to Pewter and Cerulean soon." Brock added.

"Yeah I've got to make sure my sisters haven't let the gym fall into disarray."

The former travelling companions chuckled as they all knew that even though Misty had only been gone for a few hours it was more than enough time for them to do something to bring about the downfall of the gym again. The trio quickly calmed down and Ash then hugged both as Pikachu jumped onto Misty's shoulder and nuzzled her affectionately. Misty scratched behind the mouse's ear earning a sigh from the mouse, she smiled at Pikachu and looked back to Ash.

"Hey Ash, I have a gift for you, I hope it will help you out in Unova."

Pikachu moved to Brock's shoulder so that Misty could get to her bag. Misty opened her bag and took a Pokéball and Water Stone out, she then handed them to Ash who stared at it for a moment and then pressed the button to open it. In a flash of light, a Pokémon appeared, and Ash was shocked to see an Eevee stood on the ground in front of him. Ash turned his gaze back to Misty who was smiling at him, with a shake of his head Ash tried to give the Pokéball and Water Stone back to Misty.

"Misty I can't accept this you've always wanted a Vaporeon."

"It's okay Ash I manged to get a pair of Eevee's, so I already have a Vaporeon. This one is yours, I want you to take her to Unova and help you win."

Misty quickly sent out her own Vaporeon to prove her point, the Eevee now belonging to Ash nuzzled up to her evolved sister and then looked up at Ash and then at the Water Stone in his hand. It was obvious what the Eevee wanted but Ash wanted to be sure, he crouched down, so he was at Eevee's level and held out the Water Stone to her, so she could choose for herself.

"This is your decision Eevee, if you want to be a Vaporeon then touch the stone."

Without a moments hesitation Eevee placed a paw on the stone and a blinding light emanated from her as she evolved. The now Vaporeon looked over her new body and was overjoyed to finally be the Pokémon she had wanted to be for so long. She looked at her new trainer and launched herself at him which almost knocked him over and started to nuzzle him displaying her gratitude. Ash hugged the new member of his family tightly, he was eventually allowed to stand up and he immediately pulled Misty into a tight hug which she gladly returned.

"Thanks Misty."

"It's no problem Ash."

"I have something for you too Ash although I believe Professor Oak has already given it to you.

Ash and Misty broke the hug and then the former cocked his head in confusion as the only thing the Professor had given him was Navi and the ability to carry more Pokémon, neither of which could have been of Brock's doing. a clear look of realisation appeared on Professor Oak's face as he now remembered that he had forgotten to tell Ash about a rather important feature that Brock had asked him to install. The old man looked sheepishly at Brock who shook his head and sighed overdramatically.

"I see that Professor Oak forgot to tell you. Well Ash I asked Professor Oak to add a digital library to Navi that contains the recipes for every meal I've made for our Pokémon including a good one for Snorlax when you need to feed him. There's also a lot of medical treatments I've learned since I started my training to become a Pokémon Doctor."

The usefulness of this information was monumental for Ash and was a major relief for him as feeding Snorlax had been something that Ash had been worried about, especially if they had gotten stuck in the middle of nowhere with very little food. The various medical treatments would be invaluable too due to the recent price increases for items such as potions.

"Thanks Brock, this'll be a great help in Unova."

"It's the least I could do Ash. Now don't you have a plane to catch?"

Ash's eyes widened as he realised how long he had been stood there battling Gary and talking with his friend. He quickly checked his Pokenav and saw that he had very little time to get to the airport if he wanted to catch the plane for Unova.

"Oh, damn it my plane is leaving soon, I've gotta get going Goodbye everyone, I promise I'll make you all proud."

Ash quickly hugged his friends and his mother again and started running down the road that would take him to the airport, he heard them cheering and wishing him good luck, so he looked back as he ran and waved at them. As Pallet Town started to get further into the distance Ash stopped and faced his hometown so he could see it one last time before he left. With that Ash gave one last wave and then started running down the path again, as the residents of Pallet town started to go home Delia watched tearfully as Ash faded from view.

"You already have Ash, you already have." She said hoping he knew that.

* * *

The airport was far busier than Ash had expected, and he had to struggle to make his way through the terminal to get to his gate, he muttered a few apologies to people he accidentally bumped into and mumble a few curses at ones who didn't have the curtesy to do the same. After making his way through the bustling crowd Ash arrived at his gate, he walked up to the stewardess with ticket in hand. Just as he was about to hand in his ticket someone walked over to the desk and whispered something in her ear. The stewardess turned on a microphone and started to look around the crowd.

"The twelve o'clock flight to Unova has been cancelled, we apologise for any inconveniences this has caused."

"You've got to be kidding me. Well this sucks, there's not another flight to Unova for a week."

With a sigh Ash slumped down on one of the chairs, he had been eager to get to Unova today and start his quest to conquer the Unova region. Both Pikachu and Vaporeon could see that Ash was downtrodden because of this so they jumped onto the chairs either side of him and nuzzled him hoping it would help him feel better. The efforts of his Pokémon were appreciated by Ash who wrapped an arm around both and hugged them tightly.

"Thanks, I was just really hoping to start our journey today. I guess we'll have to head home and come back next week." Ash said with a sigh.

"You know Ash dejection really doesn't suit you."

Ash knew that voice, he looked up and saw a tall, slender young lady. She has long, wavy, creamy blonde hair and small grey eyes, black straight leg trousers, a long black coat with a V neck and black fur rimming the cuffs and running down the end of the coat and a large teardrop shaped ornament on the centre of the coat, probably used as a fastener, she also dons a black top underneath. Her outfit is finished with black kitten heels and a yellow stripe on each shoe. For accessories she wore a large, black feathery ruff around her neck with two hair clips in her hair, both resembling two teardrop-shaped object conjoined with a pale-yellow stripe.

"Cynthia? What are you doing in a Kanto terminal? I expected you to still be at the Pokémon League in Sinnoh."

"Believe me Ash if I had my way I would be but sadly I've been forced to take some holiday time so I'm going to my villa in Unova. Right now, I'm just waiting for the crew to finish their pre-flight checks."

At the mention of the region he so desperately wanted to go to ash's shoulders slumped a little again, Cynthia had expected this response as she knew that Ash's flight had been cancelled leaving him stuck here for a at least a week. Luckily for Ash she had a solution to the problem that had caused him to be stuck here. She sat down on the chair next to Ash and placed a hand on his shoulder making him look her in the eye.

"You know Ash it's a long flight to Unova and it can get pretty boring on a plane when you're all alone so you're free to join me."

Ash immediately perked up at Cynthia's statement and the Sinnoh Champion was glad to see him back to his normal self, suddenly Pikachu leapt onto Cynthia's shoulder and started nuzzling her face in thanks. A small laugh escaped Cynthia and she rubbed the mouse's head in return, Vaporeon quickly followed Pikachu's lead. She'd seen how upset her new trainer had been, so she was grateful that the blond-haired woman was offering to help them. The pair eventually stopped and returned to their former positions on Ash.

"Are you sure that'll be okay?" Ash asked.

"It'll be fine Ash."

"Okay, well I can think of worse things than being alone on a plane with the beautiful Sinnoh Champion."

It took all of Cynthia's willpower to not blush at the rather surprising declaration from Ash. Sure she'd heard similar things from men before but never anything like that from Ash. The last time she'd seen Ash he was far too romantically dense to even think of something so flirtatious let alone say it. Cynthia took another look at Ash and noticed that there was was a maturity in his eyes that hadn't been there five months ago. At that moment she knew now more than ever that soon this would be the one to give her the challenge she had desired for so long.

"Come on Ash let's head to my private jet."

Ash nodded and picked up his backpack, Pikachu then jumped onto his shoulder while Vaporeon was happy to walk alongside him rubbing against he legs as they walked through the terminal. To the trio's relief this time they didn't have to battle through a crowd and were free to walk along without worrying about colliding with anyone. Ash looked out of the window and saw a plane all on its own, painted to resemble a Garchomp.

* * *

Cynthia led the trio to her private jet where the Captain greeted them and welcomed them onto the plane. Reluctantly he was forced to return Vaporeon however Pikachu was allowed to stay out mainly due to Cynthia insisting it was fine and partly due to the dark look Pikachu was giving the Captain. Once that had been settled and Ash's backpack had been put with the rest of the luggage he and Cynthia sat down in the seats and Ash couldn't help but sigh in comfort, he'd sat in a few planes seats and even a blimp and none of them had been as comfortable as this.

"Thank you for letting me come with you to Unova, if you hadn't have helped me I'd have been stuck in Kanto for another week."

"It's not a problem Ash, consider it a repayment for your help with Team Galactic."

"You're not getting out of it that easily Cynthia, you did more than your fair share. Believe me I'll find a way to repay you for this."

"You know Ash six months ago, you'd have shrugged and agreed with me however now you're not. I'm sure you know this already, but you've matured since we last met."

Ash shrugged and sat back in his chair, he'd heard that from a few people over the past month or so. It didn't really surprise him that she said that although for some reason it felt more significant when Cynthia said it. He briefly wondered why the Sinnoh Champion's words had had such magnitude and attributed it to her stature in the Pokémon world.

"Well after my loss to Tobias I knew that if I wanted to achieve my dream I had to take my training more seriously. I've spent the last five months training side by side with my Pokémon in preparation for the Unova League and now I know for sure that I have a team of six that would beat Tobias."

The more Ash spoke the more Cynthia found herself seeing just how much he had changed over the past few months. Cynthia found this new maturity intriguing, before she had respected Ash for the way he cared for his Pokémon and for the skill that he clearly has and now he was displaying yet another trait that made him admirable. Cynthia then realised what Ash had said and by extension implied.

"That's a bold claim Ash, you do know that Tobias was able to defeat half the team of a member of my Elite 4, don't you? You realise how powerful that makes him?"

"Of course I know how strong they are, and I know that by now they'll be even stronger, but my statement still stands. I can beat Tobias and I think that I'd stand a good chance against at least one member of your Elite 4."

The statement itself wasn't something Cynthia hadn't heard before; similar words had been spoken by trainers before usually minutes before one of her Elite 4 or even herself dealt with them. There was a difference this time though, with the others you could tell either by the look in their eyes or the slight hesitation in their voice that they didn't truly believe it and there was the odd occasion with an overly cocky trainer who believed they were better than they were.

Cynthia leaned back in her chair and thought back to Ash's battle against Tobias, that loss had clearly sparked something inside of Ash and was pushing him to push himself and his Pokémon to the next level. In some ways she was glad Ash had lost to Tobias even though she had been internally cheering for his in the battle. Had Ash won against Tobias there was a chance that he may not have worked as hard as he clearly had. Thinking back on the battle reminded Cynthia that there were a few questions she'd wanted to ask him, but she had not gotten the opportunity back then.

"You know your team selection for the battle with Tobias was odd to me, I knew that ones like you Infernape wouldn't battle since it took so much damage against Paul, but I was expecting to see some of the ones you used in earlier rounds or even some other powerful Pokémon you had."

"I didn't really plan my team as well as I could have done, I tended to think with my heart more than my head a lot of the time when it came to my team selections. In hindsight I'd have taken my Charizard and Snorlax instead of Gible and Torkoal. I'm not saying that would have enabled me to defeat Tobias, but it would have been a lot closer."

Ash paused waiting for a response from Cynthia, but it never came which surprised him, he turned his gaze back to Cynthia and a gentle smile formed on his face as he saw that she had fallen asleep. He couldn't help but be entranced by the Sinnoh Champion, she was by far the most beautiful woman he had even seen, and he knew now that the respect and admiration he had for Cynthia had developed into a crush. A quick shake of the head got those thoughts out of his head and he turned his head to look out the window. His eyes widened as he saw the legendary form of Ho-oh flying alongside the plane, Ho-oh turned its head toward Ash and nodded at him. Then before Ash could form any kind of response Ho-oh flew away over the rainbow.

* * *

Authors Notes

Well there's chapter 7, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters.

Next time we'll be in Unova and Ash will be having his first battle against an Unova league trainer. I'm sure a lot of you already know who I'm probably talking about.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.


	8. Touchdown In Unova

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this was. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you.

This time I'll be righting probably the first of the many wrongs that occurred in the Unova region. Well actually I suppose the first wrong would be Ash reverting to a being a bit braindead, so I guess this is the second wrong I'm fixing.

I forgot to say before that I'm putting Ash at around nigh on 17 years old. I see it as a year to collect 8 badges with 2 months for the Pokémon League each time, six months each for the Orange Islands and the Battle Frontier. The rest of the time will be time spent at home between adventures.

I've been thinking of adding some sort of key to show the Pokémon currently with Ash, should I do this at the start of the chapter or at the end?

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is of course regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

After a short flight Cynthia's jet landed on a runway near some kind of conference hall, Ash looked from the large building to the north and saw a town nearby which he didn't recognise either. All of this confused Ash as he had scanned the map of Unova and none of this looked familiar, he wasn't entirely sure where he was, all he did know for sure that this wasn't Mistralton City where his original flight was supposed to land.

"Um Cynthia, where are we?"

"We're at a conference hall to the south of Aspertia City. I'm meeting Professor Juniper here, she has something important to discuss with me."

That response had actually raised more questions than it had answered, he'd never heard of Aspertia Town and was also curious about Professor Juniper wanted to talk to her about. However, before he could voice one of these questions a woman approached the pair. She had brown hair and green eyes, she wore a white blouse, a green skirt, a lab coat and white shoes with red stripes. Ash also noticed that she was wearing red rectangular earrings.

"Welcome to Unova Cynthia, it's truly an honour to welcome the Sinnoh Champion to our region."

"Thank you, Aurea."

A quick handshake was exchanged between the two, the Professor then noticed the Pikachu standing on the shoulder of the trainer next to Cynthia and she immediately knew who this must be. She was a little confused though as he was supposed to be landing in Mistralton City where she was originally going to meet him.

"Ah and I would guess that you are the one Professor Oak told me about. I am Professor Juniper, I apologise for not being more prepared for your arrival Ash, I hadn't been expecting you to be flying to Unova with Cynthia."

"There's no need to apologise Professor, I honestly hadn't either, I had booked a flight on a plane, but my flight was cancelled for some reason. Lucky for me Cynthia was there and kindly offered to give me a ride here."

A slightly confused look appeared on Juniper's face, she had been keeping track of that flight after Professor Oak informed her that Ash would be travelling to Unova and from what she had heard the flight that Ash was supposed to be arriving on would be landing in just over an hour. She was about to tell this to Ash when she saw Cynthia give a little shake of her head and a shushing sign. A knowing smile formed on Juniper's face and she gave a small nod to Cynthia.

"Well that's the kind of person Cynthia is. Come on we should go to my lab, so we can get you registered for the Unova League."

"Um Professor, where are we? I've never seen this part of Unova on a map."

"That is not surprising Ash, prior to last month this part of Unova was mostly uncharted. Right now, we are just outside of Solara Town, it's a small little town and it is where my current lab is."

Once again Ash found himself getting a response to a question and having more questions after doing so. From what Ash knew Professor Juniper's lab was in Nuvema Town which was where his journey was supposed to begin. After that his first badge was in Striaton City and his journey carried on and went along a very simple path, he'd meticulously planned it out months ago and to his knowledge there was no reason for this to change.

"Wait a minute I thought your lab is in Nuvema Town."

"It was, sadly my lab in Nuvema Town is buried under feet of snow and thick ice as is half of Unova."

"What happened?"

"No one is sure, there was no warning of it until about a day before the disaster. Luckily all the people and Pokémon were evacuated to safe areas, I chose to relocate to Solara Town as it made the most sense when it came to new trainers. The new starting gym is in Aspertia which is just north of Solara Town."

After hearing all this Ash's hand moved to the pocket he kept Navi in, he was sure that once he was alone he would be able to get some of the answers he's looking for from her. Regardless of that he still wanted to learn more about this from Professor Juniper, he was about to ask her more about the disaster when a young man walked in front of them blocking the way. He had dirty blonde hair and icy blue eyes. He was wearing a violet undershirt, and an orange jacket over a dark-grey hooded sweater, and a black waist-belt. He was also wearing white pants with black and white trainers.

"Hello Trip, I hadn't expected you to still be here." Professor Juniper said.

"I just came back to train here before I challenged the Aspertia gym. I was just about to head north when I saw you coming with these two people. So, who are they?"

"I'd like to introduce you to Cynthia who is the Champion of the Sinnoh League and Ash Ketchum, a trainer from Kanto here to challenge the Unova League."

Cynthia prepared for the reaction she usually received from trainers while Ash held out a hand to the younger trainer however both were surprised to get no reaction from Trip. They both watched as Trip seemed to be completely ignoring Cynthia and was focussed entirely on Ash and the Pikachu stood on his shoulder. After a brief moment of silence Trip took a Pokéball out of his pocket and held it by his side while smirking at Ash.

"So, a native of Kanto has come here to be crushed in the greatest region. How about we have a little battle, my Snivy against that feeble Pikachu."

"Did you not watch the Sinnoh League?" Cynthia asked.

"Hell no, why would I waste time watching some worthless other regions League? The Unova League is the only one that matters. So, are you gonna accept my challenge or be a little Kanto coward?"

Cynthia looked at Professor Juniper wondering how a new trainer could be so naïve, the Professor merely sighed and shook her head. She knew that Trip was cocky and even arrogant, but this was well for like of a better word stupid on Trip's part. She watched as the young trainer sent out the Snivy she had given him and hoped that Ash would take it easy on her.

"Very well, Pikachu let's do this."

With a nod Pikachu leapt off Ash's shoulder and stood opposite the smirking Trip and Snivy, it was clear that neither knew just how strong he was but by the end of this battle they would. He released a few sparks from his cheeks to show he was ready to battle and sent a smirk of his own at their opponents. The look surprised both however they quickly pushed that surprise away which was all Trip needed to launch his first attack.

"Snivy use Leaf Tornado."

Snivy nodded and started spinning its body around and flipped around so it's spinning on its head with its tail straight up in the air. Then, a large tornado of wind with a circles of light green energy spinning around it appears at the tip of Snivy's tail. It then swings on its side and catches the opponent in the tornado. The tornado engulfed Pikachu and the wind then started glowing green, Snivy watched assuming that Pikachu would be thrown into the air however he was still on ground and seemingly unaffected by the attack. Snivy growled and then swung its tail around again in an attempt to send him flying but still finding no success.

After a while of staring at a wall of green light and leaves Pikachu grew tired of standing there so he released a wave of electricity which immediately eliminated the tornado surrounding him. The ease of which that Pikachu had broken free from the attack shocked both Trip and Snivy, the nearby wild Pokémon had easily fallen to her Leaf Tornado however this Pikachu had made it look like nothing. Ash watched his opponents and had to admit that the Snivy was clearly a lot more powerful than he had anticipated, sure the attack hadn't fazed Pikachu, but the surrounding terrain was in ruins because of the attack.

"I have to admit Snivy I am impressed, you are far stronger than I thought you would be. I can already tell that you'll be a powerful a Serperior one day."

The praise from Ash was unexpected and most certainly welcome for Snivy, she'd been trying to impress her new trainer since Professor Juniper gave her to him, but he had not praised her once. Despite being thrilled at hearing the praise she knew that she couldn't let her trainer know that so Snivy focussed and maintained her composure. Ash could see that his words had clearly had an effect on Snivy and he just hoped that Trip would give her the praise she deserved in the future.

"I guess you got lucky Trip, it appears that Professor Juniper hands out slightly stronger Pokémon than the Professors of other regions. Not that it matters, Pikachu use Iron Tail but take it easy on her."

In the blink of an eye Pikachu's tail had hardened and started to glow white, he then charged at Snivy and slammed his hardened tail down on Snivy's head. Pikachu immediately realised that he had accidentally used a bit too much force as he had driven Snivy's head into the ground knocking it out immediately. There was a brief silence as everyone looked at Snivy and then at Pikachu who was rubbing the back of his head and looking away sheepishly as he knew now that he hadn't taken it quite as easy as he should have done.

Trip growled at being beaten so easily and returned Snivy, he sent a glare at Ash and then quickly left the scene mumbling something under his breath. Once Trip had left, Pikachu clambered back onto Ash's shoulder still looking a little guilty that he had overdone it like he had. Ash smiled at Pikachu and scratched behind his best friends' ears trying to make him feel better.

"Don't worry about it buddy, neither of us really wanted to battle him anyway but he needed a reality check."

"You do have a point Ash, he's seems a little too arrogant a bit like Paul was really." Cynthia replied

"I'll admit that he does have a little too much cockiness but he's a good kid and has some potential but if he doesn't change that attitude then he'll fail. Well I suppose we should get you signed up so you and go start winning badges." Juniper added.

With that Juniper walked into Solara Town with Cynthia and Ash closely behind, as they walked through the tiny town Ash saw a lot of similarities to Pallet Town. People and Pokémon were playing in the streets, there were just a few small businesses along the way and the town was lacking a Pokémon Centre or a Poke Mart. One major difference was that there was even a small trainer school next to the large building that was clearly Professor Juniper's lab as it had a large corral behind it.

The group walked into the lab and into Professor Juniper's office, the professor sat at her desk and was about to sign Ash up for the Unova League there was a loud explosion which came from the corral. The shockwave sent Ash and Cynthia crashing to floor, the former quickly got back to his feet and offered a hand to Cynthia after making sure she was okay. The Sinnoh Champion smiled and gratefully took the assistance allowing Ash to help her up. Without a moment's hesitation Cynthia and Ash ran out of the lab and into the corral to see what had happened.

* * *

Authors Notes

Well there's chapter 8, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.


	9. Old Enemies With A New Objective

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this was. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you.

I've had a few people ask the same questions a few times, so I'll answer them here:

1\. This is not a romance fic, there will not be a major focus on romance.

2\. Cynthia won't be travelling with Ash, but they will meet each other at various points through the story.

3\. Ash is almost 17 now so if he's OOC in some ways it's because he's not a kid any more, he's matured.

4\. Ash isn't going to curb stomp everyone like they're nothing, he will lose battles throughout the region.

5\. I'm British so I will be writing with 'British' phrases. I'm just leaving this as a warning in case that bothers you at all.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is of course regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

Ash and Cynthia got outside in a few moments and their eyes widened as they saw a massive airship hovering above the corral with a large, red letter R emblazoned on it. Several ropes suddenly descended from the ship and agents wearing uniforms bearing the same large red, letter R rappelled down the lines to the ground. By the time the last one had hit the ground there was around twenty agents standing there waiting for orders. After a short pause three more figures joined them and Ash groaned as soon as he saw them, he was sick and tired of them.

"Prepare for trouble." Jessie started.

"Team Rocket, I should have known. Pikachu Thunderbolt!" Ash instructed.

Pikachu didn't need to be told twice and he immediately shot a bolt of lightning at the trio who were still in the midst of reciting their ridiculous motto. The attack struck them, and the trio were instantly silenced, they quickly recovered from their shocking which at this point they'd become pretty much accustomed too and yelled angrily at whoever had attacked them.

"Who dares to interrupt our motto." The trio looked down and saw an all too familiar boy and his Pikachu "It's the twerp!"

"Really? You followed me here too? Have you three really got nothing better to do than annoy me?"

"Actually, twerp we're not here for you, Team Rocket are extending their reach beyond Kanto and Johto into Unova and we're spearheading the assault."

"The three of you really aren't going to achieve much, you're fools." Cynthia replied.

"Don't be so sure of yourself, agents attack!"

The twenty plus agents all threw out a horde of Pokémon, mostly consisting of Zubat, Koffing, Ekans, Machop, Rattata and Grimers who were all glaring at Ash and Cynthia. Neither trainer was intimidated by the sight though, they'd faced down far worse than that over the past few years. Ash and Cynthia nodded at each other and immediately sent out all their Pokémon who were joined by Pikachu. As they looked at the army facing them all the Pokémon were just as confident as their trainers except for one; Vaporeon. She was looking a little pensive as she had never even seen anything like this let alone be involved in a battle of this scale. Ash could see the look and wasn't surprised to see it, unlike the rest of the Pokémon she had no experience in situations like this.

"Alright everyone in a battle like this it's going to be too hectic for instructions, you'll have to do most of this on your own. I know that you can all do this." Ash then looked down at Vaporeon. "Vaporeon I want you to stay near me and Cynthia and use Water Gun to support the others."

Despite being afraid of the imposing army of Pokémon facing her Vaporeon had wanted to help her new family fight them, she knew Ash was doing it for her, but she felt a little insulted. Cynthia could see that the Eeveelution was dissatisfied with the job that Ash had assigned to her. Cynthia crouched down in front of Vaporeon, so she could look the water type in the eye.

"You have a very important job Vaporeon, not only are you helping everyone, but you are the last line of defence if something gets past the others and tries to attack me or Ash."

As Cynthia's words sank in Vaporeon instantly perked up and there was a fire in her eyes, a determination to do her best to protect Ash and her from anyone that tried to harm them. The Rocket army had had enough of waiting and ordered their Pokémon to attack with Ash and Cynthia ordering a counter attack in response. Before anyone could move Gible suddenly shone white as he evolved into a Gabite, he had been waiting for the right time to evolve and given the current situation he had decided that this was as good a time as any. Everyone gave Gabite a quick congratulation and then charged into battle, Swellow, Garchomp and Togekiss took to the air to fight the Zubat and Koffing while Pikachu, Floatzel, Gabite, Roserade, Lucario, Gastrodon and Milotic dealt with anything on the ground.

As the battle was joined Ash found it impossible to keep track of everything that was going on, all he could see was a variety of attacks being launched in every direction knocking out several Pokémon each time. Cynthia was much the same trying to watch everything going on was impossible, so she settled on watching one Pokémon, Pikachu. She knew her Pokémon would be fine, and the mouse had fascinated her for a while, especially after his performance against Tobias' Latios.

While a battle against poorly trainers Rocket Pokémon wouldn't usually be a good indicator for strength this was not like an ordinary battle. She watched Pikachu knock out the last of the Pokémon attacking him and then he fired a Thunderbolt at an Ekans that was about to jump on Roserade's back and sink its teeth into her neck. The save from Pikachu prompted the grass type to give the mouse a grateful nod before going back to fighting the rapidly diminishing horde.

In just a few short minutes the combination of Ash and Cynthia's Pokémon had decimated the Pokémon Team Rocket had sent at them. As the last of the first wave fell a horde of Pokéballs were dropped from the airship which were quickly picked up by the agents and sent out to form wave two. Ash and Cynthia's Pokémon got ready for the next attack just hoping that there wouldn't be too many more to come.

* * *

Wave five had just fallen and while the battles weren't tough there were a lot of them and the horde seemed never ending. Ash and Cynthia saw the next wave of Pokémon appear and started to worry, there was only so long their Pokémon could keep launching attacks and dodging or blocking the ones fired at them. Ash thought back to every other time he had fought Team Rocket trying to find a common weakness they all shared. It became so clear when he realised that every device they had used had a power core that when hit would cause the machine to self-destruct. The only problem was trying to find a way to hit said weak point, he pondered how to achieve this when an idea popped into his head.

"Cynthia tell Lucario to throw Pikachu as hard as he can at the airship. I know it sounds nuts, but we need to stop the reinforcements, and this is the best way to do it."

'I'm ready Ash.' Pikachu said having total faith in Ash.

Unlike Pikachu, Cynthia was not quite so sure about this plan, it seemed extremely dangerous especially if something went wrong but despite knowing all this she saw the confidence in both Ash and Pikachu's eyes and decided to place her faith in Ash's idea just as Pikachu had.

"Alright Lucario you heard Ash, throw Pikachu at the airship."

Lucario growled and gave a nod understanding what he had to do, he roared as he powered up and picked up Pikachu. A lasso of aura appeared around Pikachu and Lucario held onto the end of it, he then started to swing Pikachu around like a shotput. After a few spins the lasso vanished launching Pikachu into the air and sending him rocketing towards the airship.

"Use Volt Tackle Pikachu!"

As he flew towards the airship Pikachu's body became surrounded by golden electricity, a few Pokémon tried to intercept him, but they were all instantly knocked out by the power of Pikachu. Moments later he collided with the ships outer armour and everyone watched on wondering whether Ash's crazy plan would work. After a few seconds Pikachu easily forced his way through the ship like a knife through hot butter and carried on smashing through metal walls and beams, he left a path of destruction in his wake. After destroying large parts of the ship Pikachu found the power core and charged straight through it shattering it and causing sirens to start blaring.

As he smashed the power core Pikachu spotted the room that all a huge pile Pokéballs were being kept but couldn't stop and help them as the momentum from being thrown was still sending him through the ship. Once he burst through the other side of the ship he realised a flaw in Ash's plan, that being what happens after he broke through. His question was quickly answered when the form of Swellow came beneath him and caught him. Beams of light started to emanate from the ship as the core started to explode, any of the agents still on the ship jumped out and parachuted to the ground. Swellow started to fly back towards the ground to get Pikachu to safety however the mouse had other ideas.

'Wait Swellow, they're keeping the Pokéballs in there, we need to go back inside and get them.'

Swellow nodded and quickly flew back to the airship dodging the broken metal beams sticking out in all directions thanks to Pikachu's Volt Tackle. Once inside the ship they found the room with all the Pokéballs and then Pikachu's tail shone white and he slammed it down creating a massive hole beneath them, both Swellow and Pikachu started pushing all the Pokéballs out of the hole he'd made.

Everyone on the ground watched on as hundreds of Pokéballs started to fall from the hole Pikachu had made creating a massive pile on the ground. Some of the agents tried to get to the pile however a roar from Garchomp and Gabite was enough to dissuade them. They backed away from the dragons and held their arms up in surrender.

"It's over Team Rocket, after all these years you're finally going to get what you deserve."

"It's never over twerp." Jessie replied.

Before Ash could question Jessie, she threw a smoke bomb at the ground shrouding the area in a thick black smog, Ash and Cynthia heard a trio of cackles and then saw the figures of Jessie, James and Meowth burst through the smog and flew away on gliders. Swellow quickly used gust to blow away the smog and with Pikachu still on his back he got ready to chase after them on Ash's word. Cynthia saw the flying types intention and placed a hand on Ash's shoulder making him look up at her.

"Let them go Ash, we have to take care of the Pokémon the agents were using and make sure that these guys get arrested."

"Fine, next time they won't get away though. I guess we should do something about the Rocket agents until the police arrive."

"You're right Ash, Roserade use Stun Spore on the agents."

The grass type nodded and aimed both the bouquets that she was holding at the grunts and released a wave of paralysing spores which made them all seize up and collapse. Some of them tried to fight against the paralysis when they heard police sirens start to fill the air as the police got ever closer however they couldn't move a muscle. With the agents paralysed Ash and Cynthia walked over to the giant pile of Pokéballs Pikachu and Swellow had pushed out of the airship.

"So, what do we do with all of these?"

"Well when we capture Pokémon used by evil people we usually transfer them to an evaluation centre to assess their psychological state. Sometimes we can release them into the wild but usually they are given to Pokémon reserves or to trainers such as myself or other high-ranking people."

Ash, Cynthia and their Pokémon started to take the Pokémon inside to Professor Junipers lab, starting with the ones they had knocked out as they required some medical aid. While the Pokémon were being taken inside the police arrived on the scene and started taking away the Rocket agents in a series of police vehicles, once all the agents had been arrested the police left the scene except for one person, Officer Jenny who had remained at the lab to get a statement on what had happened. After receiving full statements from Ash, Cynthia and Professor Juniper, Officer Jenny thanked them for the help and then left the lab taking the last few Pokéballs with her to the nearby evaluation centre as due to the amount they had had to distribute them across the region.

* * *

Authors Notes

Well there's chapter 9, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.


	10. Team Rocket's Abuse

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this has become as we now have over 100 people following and/or favouriting. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you.

I have put up a new poll regarding Pokémon Ash will catch in Unova, I have a few picked out already but I need a few more so please vote. You can select 4 when you vote

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is of course regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

Once everything had calmed down it had gotten dark, Professor Juniper offered Ash a room for the night and despite wanting to get going Ash accepted the offer. After checking on his Pokémon to see how they were he sat down on the sofa in Professor Juniper's living room and sighed as he wondered whether he would ever have a normal first day in a region. Ash was just thankful that he hadn't destroyed a girls' bike…. yet. He was brought out of his thoughts as Cynthia sat down beside him and handed him a cup of tea.

"Thanks."

"It's alright Ash, I thought that you could use it after this crazy day." she said.

"Actually, this is kind of the norm for me now to be honest."

The pair chuckled as they both thought about Ash's statement and how true it was for both of them. Ash had been battling against evil forces and having legendary encounters since his adventure started and Cynthia well she was a Champion and she had so many duties now, duties that she hadn't known would be hers when she became a champion. Despite all the problems they had encountered both of them knew they wouldn't change a thing about their journeys as trainers. The pair spent a little while talking about their past adventures both laughing at some of the events that had transpired like Ash's problems with the Quagsire and Cynthia's search to find a cure for some Psyduck. After a while Cynthia let out a yawn and stood up, she stretched and then started walking out of the room.

"I'll see you tomorrow Ash."

"See you in the morning Cynthia."

The Sinnoh champion smiled at Ash and then went upstairs leaving Ash alone with Pikachu in the living room. After a few moments Ash decided to follow Cynthia's lead and go up and get some sleep too but he noticed that the light in Professor Juniper's office was still on. He knew that while most of the Pokémon had been sent to other evaluation centres a few had been kept at Professor Juniper's lab, so she could study some of the Pokémon herself and see the physical and mental condition of the Pokémon. The thought of doing something like that alone sounded terrible so Ash decided to go and give the professor some company while she examined the Pokémon.

* * *

Just as he entered there was a brief flash of light cause by a Pokémon being released from a Pokéball, it was a Golbat that looked in awful condition. The bat spotted Professor Juniper and let out an enraged screech as it flew at her with evil intentions. Knowing that she had no way of stopping the angered Pokémon Professor Juniper shield herself with her arms and waited for the attack.

"Pikachu use Thunder Wave."

Pikachu released a paralysing bolt of electricity at the Golbat who screeched again, this time in pain as the paralysis wracked his body. With a thud the paralysed bat fell to the floor and twitched as it tried weakly to fight against the paralysis. Ash looked down sadly at the Golbat and then turned his attention to Professor Juniper who looked a little shook up from what had just happened.

"Are you okay Professor?"

"Oh, thank you Ash, yes I'm fine thanks to you and Pikachu. I hadn't expected one of them to react so violently."

"It's okay but I think we should stay here while you see to the other Pokémon."

"I'd appreciate that Ash, it's sad to say this but I'm sure that we may need to subdue the others."

The next eight Pokémon were all the same as the first leaving Ash, Pikachu and Professor Juniper feeling sorry for the poor Pokémon and guilty that they had to paralyse them with Thunder Wave. As Professor Juniper took out the last Pokéball out of the bag they all considered not sending out the Pokémon to save it the pain of paralysing it. However, they all knew that they couldn't do that, they had an obligation to see the state of every Pokémon.

With a sigh Professor Juniper sent out the last Pokémon and Pikachu immediately got ready to unleash a Thunder Wave on the Pokémon if and in all likelihood when it turned out to be aggressive. Once the flash of light faded the trio were surprised to see an Eevee appear, the other Pokémon had been generic Team Rocket Pokémon so finding a rarer Pokémon like this was odd. The Eevee saw Pikachu's cheeks crackling and quickly shot into the corner of the room and curled into a ball while it shook violently.

Seeing that the Eevee was clearly not a threat Ash gave Pikachu a signal to get him to stop charging a Thunder Wave and he slowly walked towards the frightened Pokémon. when he got close Ash sat down next to the Eevee and tentatively reached out and gently ran his hand along the Eevee's fur. The Eevee stiffened at the contact and tried to move away obviously expecting Ash to strike it. Not at all surprised by the reaction Ash merely kept tenderly stroking the Eevee's fur hoping that it would realise that he meant no harm.

After a few minutes of Ash stroking its back the Eevee uncurled itself and looked up at Ash, their eyes met, and Ash felt incredibly sorry for the Eevee as it was clear that it had clearly been through a lot. Deciding to take a chance Ash gently picked up the Eevee and pulled it to his chest hugging it tightly. Eevee's eyes momentarily widened in shock as it had never had a hug since being ripped away from its parents. The situation quickly overwhelmed Eevee and it started to cry in Ash's arms.

"It's okay Eevee, it's okay, no one is going to hurt you anymore."

Ash kept his hold on Eevee tight until the sounds of crying where replaced by soft snores, considering the condition it was in it didn't take long for Eevee to cry itself to sleep. Once she was sure the Eevee was asleep Professor Juniper carefully took it from Ash and started to do as many tests as she could do. Ash and Pikachu watched over Eevee while they waited for Professor Juniper to finish running all the tests. Eventually the last of the Professors test came through revealing rather obvious facts, the Eevee was female, malnourished and had a series of minor injuries due to the severe punishment she had been through. The trio were in a way relieved at the reports as there were no broken bones and no deadly infections however they were still incredibly worried for the Eevee.

* * *

Professor Juniper took Eevee into the part of her lab with healing equipment and placed the small Pokémon on a small bed, she attached a few machines to keep her posted on Eevee's condition through the night just in case anything happened. Ash and Pikachu watched on saddened that a Pokémon had to go through this because of Team Rocket, both of them promising to make the evil organisation pay for their transgressions. When Professor Juniper was sure that Eevee would be okay he left she side and approached Ash and Pikachu.

"She should be fine; the machines are just a precaution to be safe. It's strange, usually the Pokémon are completely docile, almost emotionless or extremely violent as you have seen. I can only assume that this Eevee was recently taken and thus has not been broken by the ones who captured her. The malnutrition is another indicator of that, they've been starving her for a while now to try and break her."

There was a silence as the trio once again wondered what the little Eevee had suffered through at the hands of Team Rocket. Professor Juniper then saw the time and was about to mention how late it was getting and that Ash should head to bed if he intended to leave tomorrow. However, before she could say anything Ash and Pikachu were dragging on of the other beds across the room next to Eevee's bed. The pair put the bed as close as they could to Eevee's and then laid down on the bed looking at Eevee which confused Professor Juniper who also had to stifle a laugh as she saw Ash's legs dangling off the end of the small bed.

"What are you doing Ash?"

"I'm not leaving her alone, if she wakes up alone and attached to a bunch of machines she'll panic which could end up harming her. I won't let that happen, I'll sleep here."

Ash's response made Professor Juniper smile softly at Ash, it seemed that he was just as compassionate and dedicated to Pokémon as Samuel had said. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to sway the young man Professor Juniper got an extra pillow and blanket for Ash, so he could sleep a little more comfortably on the rather small bed. Ash grateful took the offered bedding and placed them on the bed.

"Thanks Professor."

"It's alright Ash, now if anything happens press the button and I'll come and help."

After a quick nod from Ash to show he understood, Professor Juniper left the room switching the light off as she went. Pikachu quickly fell to sleep in Ash's arms leaving the young trainer staring at Eevee, after a while he felt himself getting drowsy, so he reached out and gently stroked Eevee's back one last time before falling to sleep.

* * *

Authors Notes

Well there's chapter 10, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters.

Next time Ash will catch his first Pokémon and probably meet a familiar face from Unova.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.


	11. On The Road To Aspertia City

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this has become as we now have over 100 people following and/or favouriting. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you.

Thank you to everyone who has voted on the poll thus far, it'll be up for a while, so you've got plenty of time to vote if you haven't done yet.

I had someone ask about Ash and Eevee having a father/daughter aspect, but they won't, Ash hatched Phanpy and there was no sort of bond between them. The same can be said for Larvitar and Scraggy so there won't be a father and daughter relationship.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is of course regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

To Ash, Pikachu and Professor Juniper's relief the night passed by with no incidents, they could only assume that a combination of the trauma she had been through with Team Rocket combined with her breakdown last night had exhausted her. Cynthia had walked in while the trio were stood over Eevee waiting for the young Pokémon to wake up, the situation was quickly explained to the Sinnoh Champion who felt the same way as the others and like Ash swore to get revenge on Team Rocket for what they had done to every Pokémon they had captured.

They watched as with a yawn Eevee started to wake up, her eyes opened, and she looked around in confusion not recognising the place she was in. As she inspected her surroundings Eevee noticed that there a few machines around the bed she was in that had tubes and/or wires attached to her body. The sight was all to familiar to experiences she had had whilst with Team Rocket and Ash noticed the panicked look that had appeared in Eevee's eyes. Before Eevee could hurt herself by pulling against the machines Ash crouched in front of her and rubbed her back gently.

"It's okay Eevee were not going to hurt you. Do you remember me from last night? I'm Ash."

Eevee stilled as she heard the familiar voice and recognised the person who was stood in front of her, despite everything she had been through she knew that for some reason she could trust him. Ash smiled as he saw Eevee calm down and he moved his hand up to her head which Eevee seemed to like as she nuzzled her head closer to his hand. Whilst this transpired Cynthia and Professor Juniper watched on with the latter giving the former a nod which was quickly returned.

"Well you seem to have things under control Ash, so I shall go and see about signing you up for the Unova League."

"Okay Professor can remove all the devices attached to Eevee first though?"

"Of course, Ash."

Professor Juniper quickly but gently removed anything that connecting Eevee to the machines, once freed she shuffled over to Ash who picked her up and hugged her. Seeing that everything would be fine now Professor Juniper left the room leaving Ash, Cynthia and Pikachu with Eevee which seemed to help calm her.

"Hello little one, my name is Cynthia."

Until Eevee had not noticed the black clothing Cynthia wore which reminded her of some of the Team Rocket personnel that had taken such glee in tormenting her. She quickly buried he face in Ash's shirt and started to shiver a little. It was obvious what the problem here was and ever though it hurt a little Cynthia could understand why Eevee would associate her with the people who had caused her so much pain. Cynthia quickly excused herself, so she could go change, a few minutes later she returned with her black coat and shirt replaced by a light blue shirt.

"It's okay Eevee, you can trust her. She's one of the good guys"

Upon seeing Cynthia this time Eevee no longer felt afraid, she was no longer wearing the clothing that reminded her of Team Rocket and Ash had given he word that she could be trusted. Seeing that Eevee clearly had no problems with her now Cynthia reached out and just like Ash had she gently stroked Eevee's fur. After a few moments Eevee move moved to Cynthia and sat down in he spare hand allowing Cynthia to hold her.

* * *

Ash watched as Eevee allowed Cynthia to hold her and had to admit that it was a little odd seeing Cynthia without her black coat. Every time he had seen Cynthia she had been wearing it, so it had just become synonymous to Cynthia after a while, but it was nice to see a more casual side to the Sinnoh Champion, something that she probably rarely if ever got to show off. The rather tender scene was then interrupted by Professor Juniper walking into the room. With a new person entering the room Eevee quickly made her way back into Ash's arms as she felt much safer with him.

"Well Ash you'll be glad to know that now that all the insanity of yesterday is over I have officially signed you up for the Unova League, I wish you the best of luck Ash."

"Thank you, Professor Juniper."

"No thank you Ash, you helped protect my lab and saved several innocent Pokémon. If it hadn't been for you and Cynthia I fear what would have happened."

"I was happy to help but I have to ask Professor Juniper, what's really going on in Unova? There's obviously something going on since Team Rocket have suddenly made a move to take Unova shortly after some natural disaster."

"You can tell him Aurea, if yesterday's events didn't convince you that you can trust him then take my word." Cynthia said.

Ash looked at Professor Juniper who was deep in thought, as of right now no one outside of important figures knew anything about what might have happened to eastern Unova. All the public knew was that something had caused a large chunk of Unova to be buried under ice and snow. She looked Ash in the eye and could tell that like Cynthia had said, he was trustworthy. Judging by the look in her eye Ash knew that Professor Juniper was about to reveal something, so he slid his hand into his pocket and switched on Navi.

"Alright Ash, what I'm about to tell you cannot be shared with anyone. We have reason to believe that Team Plasma have something to do with the disaster that occurred which likely worried Team Rocket enough to warrant them sending troops here. So, I urge you to avoid them at all costs."

"Okay I'll do my best to stay out of their way Professor Juniper but who are Team Plasma?"

"Team Plasma are an evil organisation prominent two years ago. They tried to take control of the Unova region by having someone named N become the Champion and force everyone to release their Pokémon. The plan was stopped by a combined alliance of the gym leaders and Elite 4 of Unova."

Ash was about to ask more about this combined alliance however he was cut off by his stomach growling, Ash chuckled and rubbed the back of his head feeling a little embarrassed. He realised then that he hadn't had a proper meal since he'd left for Unova and he suddenly felt very hungry. Pikachu and Eevee's stomach soon followed suit as it was a similar story for them as well.

"Maybe we should have some breakfast before you leave Ash." Professor Juniper suggested.

Another growl from Ash's stomach answered that question so the quintet left the medical room and went into the kitchen and found food prepared from them all. Cynthia and Ash both looked at Professor Juniper wondering how she had known that they would stay for breakfast and how this had all been prepared so quickly. The Professor saw the looks and chuckled at the bemused expressions.

"Professor Oak informed me that Ash had quite an appetite, so I had a feeling that he may want something to eat before he leaves and Cynthia well at times the same can be said for you. When I awoke this morning, I asked for one of my aides to prepare some breakfast."

Rather than answer the question Ash quickly sat down at the table and started eating, he didn't shovel it down like he used as he mother had taught him better, but he ate a lot faster than he usually did. The other joined him soon after and the quintet had an enjoyable breakfast together.

* * *

After a breakfast that would more than satisfy Ash's hunger for a while he walked outside of the lab with Professor Juniper and Cynthia close behind. He turned around and shook Professor Juniper's hand, then turned to face Cynthia and shook her hand two. Both women smiled and the former rummaged in her pocket and pulled out half a dozen Pokéballs which she handed to Ash dropped who them into his pocket.

"Good luck Ash. I hope to see you competing in the Unova League." Professor Juniper said.

"Thank you, Professor, and don't worry you will do."

"Well it would seem that this is where we part ways Ash although I have a feeling that we'll meet again in Unova." Cynthia said.

"I think you're right Cynthia." Ash then looked at Eevee who was sat in his arms. "Goodbye Eevee, I hope you finally be able to live in peace and safety."

With a smile on his face Ash hugged Eevee and tried to hand her to Professor Juniper but she adamantly refused and remained in his arms. The reaction confused Ash who couldn't understand why Eevee wasn't going to Professor Juniper who could see what was going on so decided to intervene.

"As a Pokémon Professor I believe that Eevee would be much better off with you."

"But she's still injured, she needs more time to recover."

"Pokémon are incredible creatures Ash, an injury that would plague a human for weeks will be healed in days for a Pokémon. Eevee is more than capable of travelling as long as you make sure she stays safe." Professor Juniper replied.

"Is that what you want Eevee?"

Eevee nodded and nuzzled Ash's face making him laugh as her soft fur tickled his skin, with that it was decided, and Ash took out one of the Pokéballs that Professor Juniper gave him and held it in front of Eevee giving her the choice. It only took seconds for Eevee to reach out and tap the ball allowing herself to be captured by Ash who immediately sent her back out. Eevee clambered up Ash and sat on his free shoulder, Ash gave her a head scratch and then gave another farewell to Professor Juniper and Cynthia. With that Ash started walking away waving back until the lab was out of sight. Once Ash was gone Professor Juniper looked at Cynthia with a small smirk on her face.

"So now that Ash is gone, do you have anything to say about why Ash was on your plane and not on the one he was supposed to be?"

Cynthia blushed and shot back into the house mumbling about have they had more important things to discuss. Professor Juniper laughed at Cynthia's reaction and then followed the Sinnoh Champion into the lab, while she did want to push the conversation about Ash she knew that Cynthia was right especially after the events that had transpired over the past few days.

* * *

Authors Notes

Well there's chapter 11, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters.

Okay next time Ash will catch his first Pokémon and probably meet a familiar face from Unova.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.


	12. A Psychic Saviour

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this has become as we now have over 100 people following and/or favouriting. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you. Oh, and thanks to everyone who has voted on the poll.

As this chapter will hopefully show I'll be trying to give Ash more Pokémon that you don't tend to see in fanfictions, I'm sure like me you're bored of seeing the same "popular" Pokémon used in every story.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is of course regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

Once he was a fair distance away from Professor Juniper's lab, Ash stopped in the middle of the road and took Navi out of his pocket interested to see what the device knew about Team Plasma and the disaster that had struck Unova. The orb appeared from the Pokenav and turned to face Ash ready to answer any question Ash had.

"Navi you heard everything Professor Juniper said about Team Plasma, did she leave anything out?"

"Nothing of interest Ash, all I can find is that there are rumours that Lance and the G-Men assisted with the downfall of Team Plasma two year ago however right now there is no proof. Anything else is just speculation and conspiracy theories right now."

"Thank you, Navi. Keep me posted with any news that comes through on Team Plasma."

"Okay, Ash."

The orb returned into the Pokenav and Ash put it back into his pocket, he knew that there was more to this than what Professor Juniper had said but for now he would have to wait and see. The small group carried onwards, Ash wanting to get to Aspertia City tonight, so he could get a room at the Pokémon Centre and then challenge the gym tomorrow. As they followed the path Pikachu noticed a flying Pokémon that reminded him so much of the first Pokémon that Ash had caught in pretty much every region, since he had caught the first flying type he had met in previous region Pikachu tapped Ash's face to get his attention.

'Ash there's a Pidove over there.' Pikachu said pointing at the flock of flying Pokémon.

"Thanks Pikachu but I have a very specific list of Unova Pokémon I want to catch and Pidove is not on that list. I already have Pidgeot, Noctowl, Swellow and Staraptor so I really don't need another normal flying type Pokémon."

Pikachu nodded seeing the reasoning behind Ash's decision, he hadn't really thought about the redundancy of catching the same types of Pokémon but now that Ash mentioned it, it made sense. It did make the mouse wonder what Pokémon were on this list that Ash had devised and at what point he'd decided on these specific Pokémon. He also had to wonder whether the disaster that had struck eastern and parts of northern Unova had blocked access to some of these Pokémon. His curiosity only grew as they walked past a variety of other Pokémon which gained no reaction from Ash, it was clear to Pikachu that Ash was looking for more eccentric Pokémon rather than just the regular ones that most trainers caught,

* * *

As lunch time approached Ash found a quiet area just off the path and sent out all of his Pokémon who immediately spotted the new member of their family and introduced themselves to her. While she was happy to meet her new family Eevee found herself more comfortable around Vaporeon and Pikachu as opposed to Gabite and in some ways Floatzel and Swellow as they looked a little intimidating which both seemed to realise as they gave Eevee a little bit of space at first. After a while though Eevee with Vaporeon and Pikachu by her side walked over to both Pokémon and sat with them getting to know them as well.

Ash smiled as he watched Eevee talk comfortably with all the others while he made lunch, he had been worried that Eevee would be overwhelmed by the amount of Pokémon around her, but she appeared to be completely as ease. Part of that was due to Vaporeon who was staying close to her obviously knowing that Eevee would feel safer with a member of her own evolutionary line. It didn't take long to make lunch for everyone, he poured the food into a few bowls for everyone apart from Eevee as he had made a meal specifically for Eevee that contained more Oran berries than the others since she was still recovering from her injuries as the hands of Team Rocket.

Once the smell of lunch filled the air all of the Pokémon walked up to a bowl and started to eat, the only exception was Eevee who was still unsure what to do in this situation. When she'd done that with Team Rocket they had beaten her for trying to take some food. Ash could see the doubt in Eevee's eyes, so he placed Eevee in his lap and offered a chunk of the food to Eevee who sniffed it and then bit off a piece of the offered food. As soon as she swallowed it she quickly started to devour the meal Ash had made making him chuckle at the speed she was eating. While Eevee ate her meal, Ash stoked her fur and ate his own lunch taking a little more time than he once had.

Everyone finished their food pretty quickly and after a little help from Vaporeon and Floatzel who cleaned up the bowls with Water Gun, he packed everything away, returned everyone and started walking down the path to Aspertia City again. As they walked down the path, the small group didn't know that someone or something watching them from the shadows surprised by what had witnessed so far.

* * *

As much as he had enjoyed exploring the route leading him to Aspertia City, Ash was now cursing this new area of Unova as he was looking at an old rickety bridge over a series of rapids. Ash took a deep breath and took a step onto the old bridge, he felt the bridge shake and forced himself to ignore it and took another step forward. Nearby the one who had been watching them during lunch was now watching them cross the bridge, he knew what was about to happen and quickly sent a telepathic message to Ash, Eevee and Pikachu showing an upcoming plank collapsing and sending them plummeting into the rapids. The vision made Ash top in place and he felt Pikachu and Eevee cling on to him and try to pull him back away from the bridge.

"D-did you two see the same thing I did?

Both Pokémon nodded, and Ash had to wonder who or what had sent them that message, he carefully reached forward and knocked on the plank watching in horror as it collapsed. Upon seeing the vision come to Ash slowly stepped back until he was off the bridge and back on solid ground not wanting to risk going further. After taking a few minutes to recover what he had just witnessed Ash stood up and looked around trying to spot anything that may have helped them.

"Whoever just helped us, thank you. I really can't express just how grateful I am to you."

The one who had been watching them was surprised to hear someone actually thank him for helping, most people just went on their way not caring that they'd been helped. This combined with what he had seen during lunch started to convince him that this trainer was different to the others. After some careful consideration he poked his head out from behind the tree he had hidden behind so that Ash could see him. Ash quickly spotted the large cranium and the glowing green eyes sticking out from a nearby tree and knew who had saved them.

"It's an Elgyem, thank you so much for saving our lives. Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

The psychic type came out from behind the tree and hovered about ten feet away from Ash confusing him, Elgyem then spoke a few words which made Pikachu jump off Ash's shoulder and with a crackle of his cheeks he got ready for battle. Elgyem's eyes narrowed a little as he focussed his mind for the upcoming battle with Pikachu. It was pretty obvious what was going on, but Ash wanted to make sure before he tried capturing Elgyem.

"So, I guess that he wants a battle and if we win he'll join us?"

A nod from both Pikachu and Elgyem answered Ash's question and he moved a hand into his pocket in preparation to catch Elgyem. Ash was tempted to give Elgyem the first move to see what he could do, but he wasn't going to mess around in this battle.

"Alright Pikachu use Iron Tail."

Pikachu's tail started glowing white and he ran at Elgyem who remained still and closed his eyes as he focussed his mind on creating a Barrier around him to block Pikachu's attack. This wasn't going to deter Pikachu though, he jumped in the air and aimed his tail down at the top of the barrier. His tail hit the barrier and was easily repelled by it, Elgyem quickly dropped the barrier and used Psybeam to launch Pikachu into the air.

"Thunderbolt!"

As he flew through the air Pikachu regathered himself and fired a Thunderbolt at Elgyem, easily cutting through the Psybeam and headed straight at the psychic type. Ash and Pikachu watched on expecting to see the attack connect but were surprised to see Elgyem manage to create a Light Screen which deflected the Thunderbolt away. Elgyem then swapped back to attack and used Psychic to slam Pikachu to the ground eliciting a pained cry from Pikachu. As he watched Pikachu get up Ash felt himself grow frustrated at the solid defences Elgyem was putting up and the good counter attacks he had ready. It was going to take something a bit more complicated to get past Elgyem's defences.

"We're gonna have to kick this up a notch Pikachu, use Electro Ball and then grass Knot."

A ball of electricity formed at the end of Pikachu's tail which he shot at Elgyem who responded by forming another Light Screen, the ball hit the wall of light and struggle against it. While Elgyem was focused on the Light Screen Pikachu slammed his fists down and then some green vines appeared beneath Elgyem and wrapped around his right arm and waist. The psychic type looked down at the vines which had trapped him which made him lose focus on the Light Screen he has erected. This allowed the Electro Ball Pikachu had fired to break through the Light Screen and slam into Elgyem. There was a cry of pain from Elgyem and after a few moments he fell to floor still struggling against the vines, he started using Psychic to remove them, but it was taking a while.

"Pikachu use Volt Tackle!"

A yellow glow surrounded Pikachu and he charged at Elgyem who was still removing the vines, as he removed the last one Pikachu slammed into him which knocked him unconscious. Ash wasted no time and threw the Pokéball he had at Elgyem easily capturing the psychic type. Pikachu picked up the ball and took it back to Ash, hissing in pain as he felt the recoil damage from using Volt Tackle.

After such a hard battle Ash knew that both Pikachu and Elgyem needed healing so he sent Elgyem out and used a Super Potion to heal both Pikachu and Elgyem's injuries, after a few sprays Pikachu gave Ash a thumb up and Elgyem started levitating in the air again. Once he was sure that both Pokémon were ready to travel Ash started walking on the path that would hopefully lead them to safe way to cross the raging rapids that their new team mate had saved them from.

* * *

After travelling a short distance down the road Ash noticed a bush to the side of the road that had three large tufts of what looked like hair rising above it. It obvious that something was hiding behind that bush, but it didn't look like anything he'd seen over the months he'd spent studying with Professor Oak although considering that this was a previously uncharted part of Unova it could be an obscure Pokémon native to this part of Unova. Ash took Dexter out and pointed it at whatever was hiding behind the bush.

"Alright Dexter tell me what's hiding behind that bush."

"Axew, the Tusk Pokémon. Axew marks its territory by making scratch marks on trees with its tusks, which regrow if they fall out."

Ash looked down at the Pokedex bemused, figuring that maybe he had accidentally pressed the wrong button he aimed it at the bush again but was annoyed to hear the same response from Dexter. With a sigh Ash placed the Pokedex back in his pocket and then took out a Pokéball containing one of his Pokémon.

"I think something is wrong with Dexter because I know for a fact that that is not an Axew. Vaporeon come on out."

The water type Eeveelution appeared and immediately spotted the thing hiding behind the bush, she looked up at Ash and saw him nod so she focussed on the target and got ready for battle, she had been itching for a chance to truly show what she could do.

"Alright Vaporeon I want you to use Water Gun on whatever is hiding back there."

With a nod Vaporeon shot a stream of water at the purple haired thing and cheered as she saw her attack hit it and soak it. Seconds later the owner of the purple hair stood up from behind the bush and then turned around revealing that they had just attacked a woman around Ash's age. Ash gulped as he saw the enraged look on her face having seen a similar look on other girls he'd travelled with, especially Misty which never ended well for him.

"Hey what's the big idea you jerk?!" the infuriated girl yelled.

"Oh no." Ash muttered as he realised the mess he was now in.

* * *

Authors Notes

Well there's chapter 12, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters.

Well Ash has done it again, how will he placate the girl he has enraged?

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.


	13. Making Up For Present Mistakes

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this has become as we now have over 100 people following and/or favouriting. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you. Oh, and thanks to everyone who has voted on the poll so far.

I was only joking when I said about doing longer chapter so, to clarify this once and for all I have no intention of doing longer chapters any time soon, I'm happy doing shorter ones on a more frequent basis rather than doing one long chapter a month. If the people who wanted longer chapters have a problem with my choice, then I'm sorry but this is just a hobby and I will do it in the way I find most enjoyable. If you want to leave because of this choice, then thank you for your support and I hope you find a story that can satisfy your desires.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is of course regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

Not knowing what to say Ash looked at Pikachu wondering whether his best friend had any idea what to do but only got a shrug from the mouse. Ash turned his view back to the girl who charged out of the bush and stood face to face with Ash glaring at him through her drenched hair. There was an awkward pause as Ash couldn't think of what to say as her glare seemed to pierce his very soul. After a few moments Ash managed to come up with a response although in hindsight it wasn't the best thing he could have said.

"I am so sorry, I erm, I thought you were a Pokémon. O-only because of your hair, from behind it looks like it could have been an undiscovered Pokémon."

A growl from the girl told Ash that he wasn't making things better, it was obvious that he was actually making things far, far worse. Ash took a nervous step back as the girl kept glaring at him reminding him more and more of Misty which only made him more afraid of the girl. It was obvious that Ash was running out of time to try and salvage this situation, so he started thinking of what might calm Misty down in this scenario. Finally, he came up with something that might save himself from this predicament.

"If I had seen your lovely face I'd have never mistaken you for a Pokémon."

The girls eyes widened for a moment and she blushed a little, clearly taken aback by Ash's response. Ash watched as the anger seemed to fade from the girl's face and internally he sighed in relief, he'd been worried about what the girl might have done if he hadn't said that. Based on his experiences with Misty it would probably end with him having a massive headache and a sore lump on his head. Luckily for him his remark seemed to have saved him from that as he watched the girl cross her arms and pout at him trying to look as angry as before but failing miserably.

"You're still a jerk, and I'm still wet through."

"I've got a way to get you dry just give me a minute. Hey Elgyem, can you gather a bunch of twigs and sticks so we can make a fire?"

Elgyem nodded and hovered away to collect the requested items, as the psychic type diligently collected the requested items Ash sent out Gabite who would help start the fire. As soon as the dragon came out the girl seemed fascinated by him and had quickly stooped down to inspect him. While the girl continued to stare at Gabite, Elgyem got the last of the sticks and twigs he could find and formed them into a campfire position.

"Gabite use Flamethrower and make us a campfire."

The dragon nodded and shot a small stream of flames at the campfire made by Elgyem which ignited it, the girl quickly sat in front of the fire sighing as she felt the heat start to dry her. While she sat there an Axew appeared out of the girls' wet hair, Ash saw the Axew and realised that Dexter wasn't broken, there had indeed been an Axew hidden behind that bush hiding in the girls' hair. At that Ash realised he didn't even know the girls name, he sat down next to her and shuffled away slightly as he saw Axew glare at him obviously still mad about what had transpired.

"I'm Ash by the way."

"I'm Iris, your Gabite seems well trained."

"Yeah but I can't take all the credit, Gabite worked hard to become this strong."

Ash smiled and then started to stroke the dragon's head who responded by gently biting on Ash's head to return the affection. Iris and Axew watched wide eyed as this trainer allowed a Gabite with razor sharp teeth to bite his head and was sat there with a smile on his face. The looks on their faces were spotted by Ash and Gabite who started to laugh at the almost horrified expressions on both Iris and Axew's faces, although it didn't surprise either of them, it's not often you see a trainer let their Pokémon do something so potentially dangerous.

"Don't worry Iris, Gabite has done this since he was a Gible, there's nothing to worry about."

Iris and Axew merely nodded in response still not entirely convinced but for now both were more concerned with getting dry and warm something that the fire was quickly helping them with. It didn't take long for the warmth of the fire to dry Iris' clothes and hair and warm both her and Axew up, the latter of whom looked at Ash and smiled showing there were no hard feelings. Ash sighed in relief that he seemed to have made up for his mistake, he looked at Axew again and wondered if he was the only Pokémon Iris owned.

"So, do you have any Pokémon other than Axew?"

"I do have one more but, he doesn't listen to me anymore."

The way Iris has said that as well as the way Iris' shoulders had slumped told Ash that she really didn't want to talk about her other Pokémon so after a quick look around the area he decided this was as good a place as any to make camp. He had wanted to get a little closer to Aspertia City before making camp for the night, but it wouldn't make much of a difference, so he sent out his Pokémon and started to cook dinner. While he cooked he chatted with Iris who was partly focussed on Axew and Gabite who were sitting together.

"So, what were you doing out here." Ash asked

"We were just gathering some berries for dinner before you rudely drenched us."

"Yeah sorry about that, I'll make it up to you by cooking dinner for you."

"Well it's the least you could do."

Ash chuckled as he continued making dinner for everyone and trading stories with Iris about their journeys thus far. Eventually Ash finished making dinner and set it out for his Pokémon and Axew who quickly scoffed down the meal, Ash then passed a plate of food he'd made for them to Iris who seemed suitably impressed by his cooking. After dinner the group settled down for the night, Ash watched as slowly everyone fell to sleep until only Iris was awake. The Dragon Master in training yawned and then turned over as she fell to sleep. Once Ash was sure Iris was asleep he took Navi out as he had question about his gym battle tomorrow that needed answering, the orb rose from the Pokenav and turned to face Ash.

"Navi what can you tell me about the Aspertia City gym leader?"

"The Aspertia gym leader is Cheren, he utilises Normal type Pokémon making Fighting and potentially Ghost type Pokémon advisable. Due to him only recently setting up the gym there is little known about what the team he has at his disposal as he has defeated all but one of his challengers. So far, he has used a Herdier, A Pidove and a Minccino. He has in the past defeated all eight of the original Unova gym leaders with his original team but never made it past the Elite 4. When several parts of Unova got encased in ice Cheren was asked to set up a gym here for new trainers."

"Thank you, Navi."

"It's my pleasure Ash."

With that the orb vanished as Navi went back into standby mode, Ash placed Navi back in his pocket grateful to have the device at his disposal. He knew that he'd have to give Professor Oak a call soon to tell him about Navi and possibly seeing if devices like her could become more commonplace especially for new trainers who could do with something like this to answer questions that the Pokedex could not. Since he couldn't call the Professor at this time of night Ash settled into his sleeping bag feeling Pikachu and Eevee snuggle up to him, he wrapped his arms around the pair and like everyone fell to sleep.

* * *

Authors Notes

Well there's chapter 13, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters.

Next time Ash will have his first battle in the Unova region, how will he far against a trainer with Cheren's experience?

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.


	14. Back To Basics

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this has become as we now have over 100 people following and/or favouriting. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you. Oh, and thanks to everyone who has voted on the poll.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is of course regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

Next morning after having a quick breakfast Ash and Iris headed towards Aspertia City, the pair had decided to travel together for the time being since they were both going the same way and with Team Plasma out there well there's safety in numbers. To the surprise of Ash, they were making good time and there hadn't been one interruption, the pair had just walked and talked as they carried on down the path. After a couple of hours some buildings came into sight just in the distance, Ash grinned as he knew that his first gym badge was waiting for him, so he started running towards the city. Iris quickly raced after him to catch him up and eventually did once Ash stopped outside the City's Pokémon Centre.

"You can be such a kid, you know that Ash?" Iris said.

"Yep." Ash replied with pride. "So, where's the gym?"

"Come on kid I'll show you the way."

Ash grinned and followed Iris as she started walking down the street, he knew that six months ago that comment from Iris would have annoyed him but now he simply laughed it off. They walked down a couple of streets greeting the hospitable people of Aspertia and then Iris came to a stop in front of a large building. Ash looked at one of the signs outside and a confused looked appeared on his face as it said that this is a Trainer School.

"Um Iris this is a Trainer School not a gym."

"Actually, it's both, this is like an intermediate school while the one at Professor Juniper's lab is for children with only a few months to go before they start their Pokémon journey."

Iris pointed at the other sign which did in fact say that this was an official Pokémon Gym as well as a Trainer School. It did seem a little odd to put both into a single building but considering this area was undiscovered until recently they probably had to merge things together to get cities built quick, the Pokémon Centre and Marts being another good example. Ash shrugged and walked up the steps, he opened the door and walked inside the building and was not surprised to see a classroom full of children now staring at him, there was an awkward silence until a young man who was obviously teaching the children walked up to Ash.

"Hello, I'm Cheren, welcome to the Aspertia Trainer School and Gym. Who are you?"

"I'm Ash and I'm here for a gym battle Cheren."

"Well Ash I'll be happy to accept that challenge, if it's alright Ash I'd like my students to watch our battle."

"That's fine with me."

The children all cheered as the last trainer to come battle here had adamantly refused to let them watch the battle, they'd booed the boy they'd dubbed as the blond meanie as he'd left the building with his gym badge. Cheren led Ash out the back and into the gym area, he stood at one end with the children sat to the side, so they could watch everything while Ash stood at the other with Iris sat behind him in support. A referee then out from the classroom and stood at the side of the battlefield informing everyone that this was a standard battle with each side having three Pokémon to use.

"Go Minccino!"

"Gabite I choose you!"

Both trainers threw a Pokéball which burst open revealing their chosen Pokémon which drew a large cheer from the children as they got to see the familiar form of Minccino and a rare Pokémon from another region. Minccino lapped up the attention and waved at the children with a smile on his face, Gabite on the other hand ignored the cheers and focussed fully on his opponent. A quick call from Cheren got Minccino to focus on the upcoming battle, he looked at the Gabite and was a little intimidated by the fearsome looking dragon glaring at him.

"Minccino use Tail Slap."

"Dodge and use Dragon Claw."

The twin tails belonging to Minccino glowed white and he jumped at Gabite aiming his tails at the dragon who easily dodged the first attack and smirked at the Normal type. An annoyed growl came from Minccino who threw himself at Gabite and started swinging his tails wildly at the smirking dragon but was missing every swing. In his frustration Minccino put all of the power he could into one last swing but was disappointed to see the attack miss. After using so much energy Minccino bent over breathing heavily as he recovered from all the exertion, Gabite saw this as his chance and he ran at Minccino with his claw glowing. In mere seconds he had close the distance and slashed his claws at Minccino sending the Normal type crashing back to Cheren as it let out a pained cry.

"Now use Draco Meteor!"

An orange ball formed in Gabite's mouth, he then shot it into the sky and after a few seconds it exploded into a barrage of smaller meteors that were now raining down on the battlefield. The skill Gabite now had in using the move meant he was able to stand there without getting hit while Minccino was having to work hard to dodge the meteors. Unfortunately, there was just too many for Minccino to dodge and he was struck by one which knocked him down which made him an easy target for another handful which all hit him directly. Once the last of the meteors fell and the smoke there laid an unconscious Minccino in a crater.

"Minccino is unable to battle."

With the first battle decided Cheren and Ash both returned their Pokémon with conflicting emotions; the former was proud of how hard Minccino had fought and impressed by the power of his Opponent. Ash on the other hand was feeling disappointed winning a gym battle usually felt like an accomplishment but this didn't feel like it at all. The outcome of that battle had even made him feel a little guilty for going overboard and using Draco Meteor. From what he had heard from Navi Ash had expected a much greater challenge and that's exactly what he wanted.

"I know you've beaten all the gym leaders Cheren, can't you use some of your stronger Pokémon?"

"I'm sorry Ash but I can't treat you differently to other challengers, so I can only use Normal type Pokémon here and all but one of my Normal type Pokémon have only belonged to me for around a month. That is why I'm the first gym leader, I'm here to ease new trainers in rather than crush their spirits. Now let us continue our battle, Pidove you're up."

"Swellow I choose you."

In a flash of light both flying types appeared and much like Minccino had before Pidove was intimidated by the much larger flying type facing him, Swellow could see the nigh on fear in the small birds' eyes and felt a little bad about battling such an inexperienced Pokémon, he looked down at Ash who merely shook his head knowing what Swellow was thinking. After giving a quick nod to Ash Swellow turned his focus back to Pidove.

"Use Aerial Ace Pidove."

"Swellow dodge it and then finish Pidove with Brave Bird."

The grey wings belonging to Pidove tucked into his body and he flew straight at the larger and far more experienced Swellow facing him, he focussed on his target and was certain that he'd hit however Swellow was a far more competent aerial battler and easily avoided the attack. Despite his failure, Pidove wasn't going to give up and kept trying to hit Swellow but was unable to even get close. The battle was starting to bore Swellow who dove under another attempt from Pidove and built up the power to use a weakened Brave Bird, so he wouldn't do too much damage to Pidove.

Once Swellow had enough power he flew straight towards Pidove who had aimed another Aerial Ace at him. The pair clashed and Pidove crashed out of the air as he was easily overpowered, Cheren quickly aimed his Pokéball at Pidove and returned him before he hit the floor. Seeing that the battle was won Swellow flew down to Ash who thanked him for battling and returned him, he placed the ball back on his belt and took out the one belonging to Floatzel, he had been considering using Vaporeon, but he just wanted this gym battle to be over. Cheren saw the disappointment on both the children and Ash's face and quickly witched the Pokéball in his hand with one in his pocket.

"All right Ash let's see you handle this, Stoutland you're up."

"Wait I thought you used a Herdier."

"I see you did your research, I'm impressed. To answer your question, I do but it evolved after my last gym battle."

"Well this might just have gotten interesting, Floatzel I choose you!"

Floatzel appeared in a flash of light and upon catching sight of his opponent a smirk crept on his face and he crossed his arms cockily as he saw the strong looking Stoutland stood there glaring back at him. Floatzel gave a quick glance back at Ash and saw he looked just as excited for this battle as he was, he nodded at his trainer which was returned and then focussed on Stoutland. As the two Pokémon stared each other down, Cheren looked at Ash and saw that the once disappointed look had turned into a smirk. He felt a similar smirk creep onto his face as he suddenly felt like he had during his own adventure, back when he was fighting gym leaders with little to no responsibilities.

"Hydro Pump."

A powerful blast of water shot from Floatzel's mouth straight at Stoutland, the bulky Pokémon simply watched the attack coming and made no attempt to dodge it to everyone's surprise. The Hydro Pump hit Stoutland and the dog was lost amongst the torrent of water. After neither seeing nor hearing anything from Stoutland, Floatzel stopped firing his attack and both he and Ash was shocked to see that Stoutland hadn't budged, the Hydro Pump had done nothing more than soak his fur and make his glare look a little bit silly now. What surprised Ash more was that Cheren hadn't given a command to his Pokémon yet, he brushed the though aside and decided to keep up the pressure.

"Now use Ice Aqua Jet."

"Dodge it and counter with Thunder Fang."

Water engulfed Floatzel and he launched himself into the air using Ice Punch to freeze it, he aimed himself at Stoutland who at the last moments moved out of the way making Floatzel slam into the ground. Stoutland then channel electrical energy into his fangs and bite down on Floatzel's arm shocking him and making him cry out in pain as he tried to get away. As he watched Floatzel being shocked by the surprisingly agile Stoutland, Ash knew he needed to think of something fast or else Floatzel would be finished. He noticed Stoutland flinching and realised that he was being hurt too due to still being soaked from the Hydro Pump giving Ash an idea.

"Ice Punch."

Floatzel grit his teeth and did his best to ignore the pain wracking his body as he clenched his fist which had become encased in ice. He then started to rapidly punch Stoutland in the face, but it wasn't having much effect as the dogs' grip wasn't loosening, he suddenly saw that some of Stoutland's fur had frozen and realised what Ash had in mind. A few more punches were directed at Stoutland's face freezing some more of his fur, Floatzel then aimed his punches at his body smirking as gradually more and more of Stoutland's body was frozen until his whole body was frozen solid. To Ash and Floatzel's surprise Cheren looked completely unfazed by the turn of events.

"Break Free with Superpower then use Take Down."

A blue glow surrounded the frozen Pokémon and with an enraged roar he shattered the ice encasing him, with his body now free Stoutland charged at Floatzel and slammed into his sending him crashing back to Ash. The weasel pushed himself up to his feet and grunted in pain as the impact form Stoutland's Take Down had at least bruised his ribs, he ignored the pain as best he could and glared at Stoutland who was doing the same. Ash and Cheren looked at their Pokémon and knew that one more attack would finish this.

"Stoutland end it with Giga Impact."

"Combine Aqua Jet and Focus Punch."

Floatzel's fist started to glow white and then he was surrounded in water as he launched himself into the air. Meanwhile Stoutland jumped into the air and his body became surrounded in a purple aura with yellow stripes of aura spiralling around the purple aura, he launched himself at Floatzel who was now aiming his fist straight at Stoutland. The Pokémon quickly collided creating an explosion which engulfed the pair in thick smoke and sent out a shockwave that knocked Ash and Cheren off their feet. Both trainers groaned as they sat up to see the outcome of Stoutland and Floatzel's battle, the smoke started to clear revealing that both Pokémon had collapsed on the battlefield. The referee quickly checked on the condition of both Pokémon and found that they had both been knocked out.

"Floatzel and Stoutland are unable to battle, since gym leader Cheren has no Pokémon remaining the winner is Ash Ketchum."

Ash and Cheren returned their Pokémon proud of their efforts in the battle, the pair then walked to the centre of the battlefield and shook hands. The latter then presented the Basic Badge to Ash who took it and admired it for a moment, he held it up to Pikachu who cheered at winning their first gym badge. Ash smiled at his best friend and then placed the Basic badger in the badge case Professor Oak had given him.

"Congratulations Ash, it takes a strong trainer to defeat Stoutland."

"Really? But he's one of your new ones."

"No Ash, he's not." Cheren shook his head and then took another Pokéball out sending out a Herdier. "I lied Ash, the Stoutland you fought helped me win eight gym badges. He's fought in more battle than every other Pokémon here combined."

Ash suddenly felt even prouder of Floatzel's last battle as he had battled hard against a Pokémon that had beaten all the gym leader and helped him challenge the Elite 4. Before Ash could ask Cheren anything the gym leader was surrounded by the children who were asking him about the battle and how his Pokémon were. Meanwhile, Iris walked over to Ash so she could congratulate him on his first Unova gym badge.

"I'm impressed Ash, that was a very impressive performance, well for a kid."

"Thanks Iris."

The pair were interupted by a couple of the children who wanted to ask Ash some question, Ash looked at them and could see a lot of his younger self in them. He thought back to when he was there age and he never really had anyone other than Professor Oak to ask about Pokemon, he had to wonder what would have happened on his adventures if he had had the benefit of getting some pointers from expereinced trainer. He crouched so he was at there level and like Cheren started answering all their questions.

* * *

Authors Notes

Well there's chapter 14, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters.

Before people start freaking out about the easy battle Ash had against Cheren's first two Pokémon you have to remember that Cheren is the first gym leader, his Pokémon are supposed to present a challenge to new trainers and their starter Pokémon. Now think back to Pikachu vs Snivy from a few chapters ago and you'll see the problems new trainers would have had if Cheren used Pokémon that could give Ash's Pokémon a tough battle. Future gym battles won't be the same, Cheren has sent a message ahead to the other gym leaders so they can prepare and use their best Pokémon when he arrives to challenge them.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.


	15. Some Alolan Power

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this has become as we now have over 100 people following and/or favouriting. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you. Oh, and thanks to everyone who has voted on the poll.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is of course regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

The question kept on coming from the children and didn't stop until it was time for them to go home, while he had been happy to answer the questions Ash was glad that he could finally leave. Before he could leave though Cheren was quick to thank him for his help and also offer a little warning that he was going to inform all the other gym leaders that Ash was coming and that they were to use their best teams. Ash grinned at his first Unova gym leader opponent, he was already looking forward to seven very hard battles.

With that Cheren allowed Ash and Iris to leave, the pair headed to the Pokémon Centre so that Ash could get his Pokémon healed and so they could get some rooms for the night. When they got to the Pokémon Centre the pair walked over to Nurse Joy, Ash handed his Pokémon to her, so they could be healed, and she gave them a couple of room keys for the night. Ash and Iris pocketed their keys and only had to wait for a few minutes for Nurse Joy to return with Ash's Pokémon. The nurse gave back Ash's Pokémon, he thanked her and then decided he'd switch up his Pokémon in preparation for the next gym. He walked over to the phones and picked one up, he then dialled Professor Oak's number and after a few rings the old mans' face appeared on the screen.

"Ah hello Ash."

"Hi Professor, I've won my first Unova badge."

The professor was surprised that Ash had rushed along and won his first gym badge so quickly, he'd been expecting him to wait a week or so and do some training first. However, he soon understood Ash's reasoning since due to the disaster his journey plan had gone out the window and he just wanted to get to Castelia City as soon as possible.

"Well Ash I'm very impressed both by your victory and the part you played in protecting Professor Juniper and her lab. Now I assume you called me for a reason so how can I help you?"

"I need to transfer some Pokémon, I'm sending you Floatzel, Gabite and Swellow back, can I have Scizor and Gliscor in return?"

"Of course, Ash, I'll just go and get them. I've also managed to trade one of your Tauros, this time for a Vulpix. Would you like her too?"

"Yes, please Professor and thank you."

Professor Oak nodded and then walked away to his left which led to the enclosure, while he waited Ash placed the Pokéballs belonging to Gabite, Swellow and Floatzel in the machine while he started checking through the move list that Vulpix could learn. After a few moments a slightly dishevelled Professor Oak returned with a trio of Pokéballs, he rubbed his head and groaned as he placed the Pokéballs in the transfer machine.

"I swear to Arceus that Bayleef will be the death of me." Professor Oak sighed and pressed a button. "Alright Ash the Pokémon will be transferred now."

In the blink of an eye all six of the Pokéballs vanished and then appeared in their new destination, Ash picked up the Pokéball belonging to his new Vulpix and decided to meet it. The Pokéball opened and in a flash of light Vulpix appeared in front of Ash. As soon as Ash saw the Vulpix he was surprised by what he saw, instead of a fox with a reddish fur coat he was looking at one with snow white fur. Her eyes which were bright blue rather than brown were looking up at her new trainer and she cocked her head curiously as she saw her trainer staring at her. Ash realised he had been staring and quickly shook away his shock, he stroked the foxes head smiling as he heard her softy sigh.

"Sorry Vulpix, I wasn't expecting an Alolan version of your species but I'm glad you are. Also, you are the cutest Vulpix I've ever met."

Vulpix blushed which was clearly visible through her white fur, she jumped into Ash's arms and licked his cheek affectionately making Ash laugh as her tongue tickled his cheek. While Vulpix kept nuzzling Ash, he took Dexter out of his pocket and aimed it at the white snow fox in his arms. The Alolan native looked curiously at the strange device wondering what it was and what it was going to do.

"This Vulpix is female and has the ability Snow Cloak, she knows the following moves: Ice Beam, Extrasensory, Confuse Ray, Icy Wind and the egg move Moonblast."

"Wow Vulpix, that's an amazing set of moves you know."

"I'm glad you're happy with Vulpix."

"I really am Professor but how does an Alolan Vulpix evolve? Providing she does want to do that."

Vulpix nodded as she was more than happy to evolve as soon as possible, she looked down at the beg that contained the item that would allow her to evolve. Her bright blue eyes in horror as she saw that there was nothing there, the weighty bag that had been loosely tied around her neck was missing. Frantically, she started looking around for the bag until she finally saw it in the hands of the old man on the screen. An angry glare formed on her face and she pawed at the screen wanting what was hers.

"Ah it seems Vulpix knows what this is and is a little annoyed that it is not with her right now. This is an Ice stone Ash which allow her to evolve, Vulpix arrived here with it in a little bag. I took it just in case she didn't want to evolve."

A low growling noise started coming from Vulpix which made Professor Oak chuckled nervously and placed the bag containing the Ice Stone in the transporter, he pressed the button again and the bag appeared in the machine in front of Ash. The young man took the bag and opened it revealing the Ice Stone, upon seeing the stone Vulpix stopped growling and cheered happily as she wagged her tails. The sudden mood swing drew a chuckle from Ash as he watched Professor Oak let out a relieved sigh.

Before Ash could ask Vulpix one more time if she wanted to evolve, the ice type reached out with one of her paws and touched a pale blue stone causing a bright light to emit from her. Ash quickly put the arctic fox on the floor and waited patiently for her to evolve. After a few moments of anticipation, the light died down and there was now a beautiful Ninetales stood on the floor. Ash hugged his new ice type Pokémon and then turned his attention to Professor Oak who was smiling at him.

"Well unless there's anything else I can help you with Ash I will bid you farewell."

"Actually, Professor Oak I want to say how useful Navi has been, I think that devices like her would be a big help especially to newer trainers."

"I'm glad to hear that Ash, I'll discuss the possibility of making more Navi like devices available to other trainers." The professor was about to continue when a giant pile of sludge engulfed him. "I'll talk to you again soon Ash, goodbye."

The call then ended

Ash decided to give his mother a quick call to tell her everything that had happened thus far and introduce his new Pokémon to her. As soon as he dialled the number it was picked up by his mother who had a beaming smile on her face as soon as she saw him. Due to what had happened during her sons' past journeys she hadn't been expecting him to call for a couple of months at least, but then this wasn't the same boy who had travelled through those regions, he was now a mature young man. After a lengthy conversation, some praise and a little bit of a telling off for getting involved with evil organisations Delia reluctantly hung up the phone. With all his calls done Ash headed up to his room meeting Iris on the upper floor of the Pokémon Centre.

"Hey Iris, what you up to?"

"I was just coming to see what was taking you so long, you said you'd only be a few minutes to swap some Pokémon and it actually took an hour."

"Well I had to talk to him about a few things like the new Pokémon he got for me, meet Ninetales." Ash said as he motioned towards his new team member.

Iris was excited to see Ninetales as it was considered to be one of the most beautiful fire type Pokémon around and she had always wanted to meet one and see if its fur was as soft and warm as she had heard. She turned her gaze to where Ash was indicating, and she finally saw the Ninetales, but it was not at all what she was expecting, instead of the fire type she had been expecting she was looking at an ice type. The excitement she had been feeling quickly vanished and her usual feelings for ice type Pokémon soon took over. Ash watched the colour drain from Iris' face as she stared at Ninetales with a look of nigh on horror.

"What's wrong Iris?"

The dragon master in training took a shaky step back and then quickly ran into her own room muttering a quick good night as she slammed the door shut. The behaviour of Iris confused the group and they all looked at one another in confusion what had caused her to react like that. Ash and his Pokémon and shrugged and then the group went to their own room, Ash got into bed with Pikachu and Eevee in his arms while Ninetales curled up at the foot of the bed and they all soon fell to sleep.

* * *

Authors Notes

Well there's chapter 15, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.

Pokemon Ash currently has with him: Pikachu, Eevee, Vaporeon, Elgyem, Scizor, Gliscor & Vulpix


	16. Meeting A New Champion

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this has become as we now have over 100 people following and/or favouriting. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you. Oh, and thanks to everyone who has voted on the poll.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is of course regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

The next morning Ash went down to the cafeteria for an early breakfast, he got something for himself and his Pokémon and then sat down at a table waiting for Iris to join him. While he waited for his companion to join him he couldn't help but think back to yesterday when Iris had seemed nigh on terrified. There wasn't much he could think of that would have caused that reaction. Suddenly Ninetales rested her head on Ash's lap, he ran his hand along fur and then he realised what had spooked her. Iris wanted to be a dragon master and Alolan Ninetales is an ice type Pokémon. Not long after Ash came to this conclusion Iris came down, got herself some breakfast and then joined him at the table,

"Morning Ash."

"Good morning Iris. You know I couldn't help but think about what happened last night when you met Ninetales, are you afraid of ice type Pokémon Iris?"

"Pfft of course not." Iris replied.

"Well you'll have no problem with Ninetales joining us for breakfast."

Iris gulped and then shook her head not trusting her voice to say she wouldn't mind, she focussed on her breakfast and started eating until she felt something very cold resting against her leg. After taking a deep breath Iris looked down and was now staring into the bright blue eyes of the ice type sat on the floor next to her. There was complete silence until Iris shifted herself into the next chair and shuddered. She looked at Ninetales again and couldn't help but feel a little guilty as she saw the downtrodden look on Ninetales' face.

"Don't worry Ninetales, Iris is a little afraid of ice type Pokémon." Ash said as he hugged the ice type.

"I'm sorry Ninetales, m…maybe you could help me deal with that." Iris said as she looked down at her food guiltily

A quick nod from Ninetales showed that she would be happy to help and that she understood and held no grudge towards Iris. The rest of breakfast was spent in silence as Iris tried to squash down her guilt and Ash did his best to make Ninetales feel better after the no pun intended almost cold treatment she'd gotten from Iris. It didn't take long for them to finish breakfast and leave the Pokémon Centre, after a little consideration Ash decided to return Ninetales for the time being and then the pair left Aspertia City.

* * *

As the pair wandered along the route between Aspertia City and the next town they spotted several Pokémon by the sides of the path, groups of Lilipup, Patrat and Purrloin. Suddenly in the distance Ash spotted a giant man with instantly recognisable wild red hair; Alder the Champion of Unova. The man spotted the two younger trainers and quickly walked over to them, Ash had heard that Alder was a giant of a man, but he had never expected him to tower over them so much.

"It's an honour to see you again Champion Alder." Iris said.

"Ah young Iris, it has been a long time since we last met. Who is your friend?"

"This is Ash, he's from Kanto and is now challenging the Unova League."

"Nice to meet a trainer from another region, I wish you luck with your quest." Alder said as he shook Ash's hand.

Ash tried his best to return the handshake with the same strength and gusto, but he couldn't and even though he knew Alder had shook his hand gently, it still felt like his arm was about to fall off. Alder chuckled at the young man and then turned his gaze back to Iris.

"Now Iris how goes your training, will we be replacing Drayden sometime soon?"

"Maybe, maybe." Iris replied with a nervous chuckle.

"Well how about a little battle to test your skills."

Iris' eyes widened, the Champion of Unova was asking to battle her to test her skills, she felt a combination of pride and intimidation at the prospect of battling such a powerful trainer. Meanwhile Ash was watching on feeling a little jealous that Iris would get to battle him.

"O…of course Champion Alder."

"Hey, can I have a battle against you too Alder?" Ash asked.

"Sure, the more the merrier. In fact, let's make this a double battle then, Braviary and Druddigon come out."

Alder took a couple of Pokéballs off the necklace he was wearing revealing his two Pokémon who exuded power. Ash stood next to Iris and grinned as he took a Pokéball off the belt he was wearing, he could barely contain his excitement at battling the Unova Champion.

"Alright Gliscor I choose you!"

The bat Pokémon appeared in a flash of light and upon seeing the two powerful Pokémon opposite got ready for battle, he locked eyes with the Braviary and grinned like his trainer. Axew then jumped out of Iris' hair and landed on the ground standing opposite Druddigon and while he was intimidated by the larger dragon he was determined to fight hard for Iris.

"Use Stone Edge."

"Block the attack with Steel Wing."

"Dragon Rage Axew."

"Match it Druddigon."

Gliscor's eyes glowed white and then two light blue rings appeared around his body. The rings then glowed white and formed into white stones that were spinning around Gliscor's body. The white glow then faded into grey rocks. Gliscor then fired the stones at the Braviary who's wings started glowing white and he swung them at the stones shattering them easily.

Meanwhile both Druddigon and Axew opened their mouth and fired too beams of greenish energy at each other, the attacks clashed and cancelled each other out creating a thick smokescreen that shrouded both sides from each other. While in the past Ash would have waited for the smoke to clear he wasn't the same now and he intended to keep up the pressure on Alder. He quickly came up with an idea and whispered it to Iris who nodded in agreement with the plan.

"Use Giga Impact Gliscor."

"Dragon Claw Axew."

Alder interested in what the two had in store for him waited to see what would happen, the smoke quickly cleared revealing that both Gliscor and Axew were missing. Realising what the pair were doing Alder looked up seeing Gliscor with Axew on his back, the bat Pokémon was covered in a purple aura and yellow-orange streaks were flying off as he shot towards Braviary. Just before impact, Axew launched himself off Gliscor's back and his claws started to glow green as he aimed himself towards Druddigon.

Gliscor slammed into Braviary moments later sending the flying type crashing to the ground while Gliscor spun away to give him some time to recover. Moments later Axew raked his claws across the rough skin of Druddigon earning a pained roar from the larger dragon who then slammed his tail into Axew sending him crashing down in front of Iris.

At the same time Braviary had shaken off the worst of the Giga Impact and launched himself at Gliscor using a powerful Brave Bird attack. Knowing what was about to happen Gliscor tried to move and dodge the attack however he was still recovering from the Giga Impact so could do nothing but brace himself as Braviary slammed into him sending him even higher in the sky, he then flew above and hit him with a second Brave Bird which sent him plummeting to the ground, landing next to Axew.

"I commend you both, it was clever, combining your strengths to attack is a good strategy. You both have a lot of potential."

Ash and Iris watched as their Pokémon shakily got up, it was clear that both attacks had badly injured both Pokémon. Of the two Gliscor seemed to be slightly worse off, he was doing his best to ignore the pain he was feeling from that double Brave Bird attack. He'd taken his fair share of powerful attacks over the past few months but that was one of if not the most powerful attack he'd been on the unfortunate end of. Axew was in bad shape too as he held his stomach, it felt as though he had many shattered ribs after that powerful Dragon Tail. Iris knew that Axew couldn't take another attack like that, so she decided to take a risk and use a move that as of now they hadn't managed to successfully use but it was there only chance.

"Axew use Draco Meteor!"

Axew nodded and formed a ball of energy in his mouth, Ash watched waiting to see the attack and compare it to Gabite's, but after a few moments of watching Axew the orb was still in his mouth not looking as though anything would happen. The orb suddenly started shining indicating that it was about to detonate which would cause a lot of devastation to Axew and anything remotely nearby. Ash was about to tell Gliscor to get as far away from Axew as possible when the orb exploded engulfing both Axew and Gliscor in thick black smoke.

"Gliscor!"

"Axew!"

"Both of you blow the thick smoke away." Alder instructed to his Pokémon.

Ash sighed in relief as he saw that Gliscor had erected a barrier around himself to protect against the explosion from Draco Meteor. Axew on the other hand wasn't as lucky, he'd been severely injured by the blast and was barely standing. Alder saw the condition Axew was in and returned his Pokémon, placing their Pokéballs back on his necklace.

"I think that's enough for now, that was a hard-fought battle. Ash, Iris you may go back to the Pokémon Centre now to heal your Pokémon. I shall come and meet you both there."

Ash and Iris nodded and picked up their respective Pokémon, Gliscor sighed as he felt Ash hold onto him protectively while Axew let out a hiss of pain as Iris accidentally caught one of the small dragon's injuries. Ash and Iris quickly headed towards the nearby town walking in complete silence, the former not sure what to say as the events of that battle had clearly embarrassed Iris who was walking with her head lowered almost in shame. It was understandable, she wanted to be a dragon master and her Axew had failed to use a dragon type move although considering it was the most powerful dragon move she shouldn't be that downtrodden.

Many people had told Ash that while it was good to reflect on what you've done wrong and he knew that it was true as it had helped him in the past. However, in this situation dwelling on what happened in the battle against Alder would do Iris no good what so ever.

"Iris don't worry about what happened in the battle."

"Don't Ash, just don't." Iris said cutting Ash off.

Before Ash could reply Iris stormed off ahead leaving Ash behind, it was clear that she was embarrassed and humiliated by what happened against Alder. Those were two emotions Ash had felt in the past after certain battles and knew that talking about it did help but getting through to someone like Iris who is just as stubborn as him was not going to be easy. Ash sighed and caught up with Iris trying to think of a way he could help Iris and Axew.

* * *

Authors Notes

Well there's chapter 16, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.

Pokemon Ash currently has with him: Pikachu, Eevee, Vaporeon, Elgyem, Scizor, Gliscor & Ninetales


	17. Getting Over It With Ash Ketchum

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this has become as we now have over 100 people following and/or favouriting. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you. Oh, and thanks to everyone who has voted on the poll.

I have temporarily taken down the poll and put up a new one where you can vote on your favourite chapter so far. I'm just curious to see which chapters are most enjoyed and if I can try and replicate the quality of those chapters into future ones.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is of course regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

The dejected form of Iris was the first to reach Floccesy Town with Ash close behind, the pair walked into the Pokémon Centre and handed Gliscor and Axew to Nurse Joy who took them with a smile and walked back into the healing rooms behind her. With nothing else to do Ash and Iris then sat down at the nearest desk waiting for their Pokémon to be healed and for Alder to arrive.

Ash looked at Iris who was staring at the floor, her shoulders were slumped, and her hair was covering her face. After what felt like an eternity Alder arrived in the Pokémon Centre and stood before the two trainers, Ash decided to give the two some space, he sat at a desk far away from the pair and started grooming Eevee who enjoyed the attention.

Meanwhile Alder was still looking down at Iris who still hadn't met his gaze, instead she was still focussed on the floor. With a sigh the Unova Champion sat next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder finally getting the young dragon master in training to look at him. It wasn't a surprise to the downtrodden look on her face after what had happened, Iris like dragon type Pokémon was proud and she'd just had that pride damaged in front of him and her friend.

"Iris, you have grown a lot stronger since we last met and I'm sure that a lot of the people of the Dragon Clan would be proud of you. However, you still have much to learn if you wish to achieve the position of Dragon Master, a position that you are more than capable of achieving."

Iris merely nodded in response, she knew that she should be proud and flattered that she had been praised but the events of the battle were still playing out in her head. It was clear to the Champion that she was taking what happened far worse than he had expected, he sighed and decided to just give Iris an assignment and hope that that would help her get over what happened.

"I want you to go to the area to the west of Floccesy Ranch. There have been sightings of dragon Pokémon in that area and you have to start training more than just one dragon Pokémon. Come back here once you catch a dragon Pokémon and we will battle again."

"Okay Alder." Iris murmured.

Alder sighed again and then walked towards the exit, he cast a glance over to Ash and gave him a nod hoping the young trainer would help Iris. The nod was returned by Ash which reassured Alder, he then walked out the Pokémon Centre leaving Ash and Iris alone waiting for Gliscor and Axew to be healed. Ash moved back over next to Iris making sure to keep grooming Eevee, while they sat there Ash studied Iris wondering how he should approach this, she had been given a task by Alder, but she didn't seem very enthused about it. Just as he was about to start talking Nurse Joy returned with their now healed Pokémon, the pair thanked Nurse Joy for healing them and then walked outside. Before they carried on Ash knew that they needed to talk.

"Iris we need to talk about what happened in the battle against Alder."

"Talk about what? How I'm such a failure that I can't even train my Axew to use Draco Meteor?!"

Axew appeared from Iris' wild hair and adamantly denied her declaration but she wasn't having any of it, she was too angry at herself. Ash could see that this wasn't going to be as easy as he had hoped it would be but he decided to keep trying the diplomacy route for now.

"Iris calm down, it's not easy for a Pokémon to learn Draco Meteor."

"It was easy enough for you and your Gabite!"

"It wasn't easy at all, it took a lot of training until Gabite was able to use the move properly."

The lack of reaction from Iris made clear to Ash that Iris wasn't going to listen to him trying to be kind or comforting so it over to plan B.

"Listen Iris you have two choices, either you come with me and follow Alder's instructions, or you stay here, wallow in your own pity and make it even harder for you to become a Dragon Master."

Ash got up and walked out of the Pokémon, not even casting a glance back to Iris who hadn't move yet. Once outside Ash headed straight for the northern exit of the town to wait for her to hopefully join him. After a quick walk Ash reached the outskirts of the Floccesy Town and leaned against a nearby fence waiting for Iris to catch up. He stood there patiently wondering how long he would wait here before he either went back to check on her or carry on to the ranch and try to catch a new Pokémon for himself.

'That was a bit harsh back there don't you think Ash?' Pikachu asked.

"Yes, it was Pikachu and it had to be, coddling wouldn't have achieved anything not with someone stubborn like Iris."

'Or like you.' Pikachu replied with a smirk.

Ash grinned back at his friend and deciding there was nothing else to do for now started grooming Eevee again since he felt like he hadn't been paying her enough attention over the past few days. The young Eevee wasn't about to refuse some extra attention from the one who had saved her, so she snuggled into his arms and nuzzled against him. Ash smiled as he watched Eevee look so peaceful in his arms, he still couldn't believe how someone could be so cruel to such an innocent Pokémon.

* * *

Something Ash had noticed over his time as a trainer, especially since he's gotten more serious was that he easily lost track of time whenever he was spending time with members of his extended family. Suddenly Ash could hear footsteps getting closer, he smirked as he knew that Iris had decided to get over what happened and join him. Reluctantly Ash stopped grooming Eevee and placed her back on his shoulder.

"Took you long enough Iris."

"I've only been twenty minutes. Anyway, how did you know that would I follow you?"

"Because it's exactly what I would have done in your place." Ash replied with a smirk on his face. "Now come on, you have a dragon to catch and hopefully I do too."

Iris nodded and followed Ash as he led the way towards the Floccesy Ranch, the small town quickly become a speck on the horizon. After taking a couple of shortcuts to avoid the more commonly trodden path Ash and Iris came to the entrance to Floccesy Ranch, they were immediately greeted by a farmer and his wife. The former had been tending to his cattle while the latter had been talking to a couple of youngsters who had just gone into the ranch.

"I be guessing you're the lad and lass we were told about by Alder. He told me not to let the lass leave till she gets herself a Pokémon."

"Yes, that's us, we've been told there is a wide variety of Pokémon here to catch." Ash replied.

"You be right there lad, there be a lot of different Pokémon here. We only be having one rule here though, only one Pokémon can be caught each. It be how we keep a constant supply of Pokémon for new trainers. Now if you be needing help, me or the wife can help."

"Thank you, sir." Ash and Iris replied.

The farmer and his wife nodded, the former then went back to his work while the latter when into the house leaving the two young trainers to go explore the area and find whatever Pokémon they were looking for. Ash and Iris walked through the grassy lands and forest area looking for dragon Pokémon, but they couldn't find any, the pair sat down at the base of a tree to take a break and have something to eat. However, before they could even start making something to eat some of the grassland nearby rustled drawing the attention of the trainers.

"Ash look, it's a Deino." Iris said as the dragon Pokémon appeared from the rustling grass

"And a Bagon." Ash added as the second dragon walked out. "Well it looks like we found our Pokémon. Elgyem I choose you!"

"Alright, let's do this Axew."

The psychic type burst out of its Pokéball and levitated in front of Ash while Axew leapt of his hiding place in Iris' hair and stood in front of her, the two wild dragons saw their opponents, and both readied themselves for battle. Interested to see what their potential new Pokémon could do Ash and Iris waited for the dragons to make the first move and show off what they can do. There was a brief standoff until the wild dragons grew tired of waiting and both formed a greenish orb in their mouths and fired a pair of beams at Elgyem and Axew.

"I've got this Iris. Elgyem block the attacks with Light Screen."

The psychic type nodded and quickly erected a barrier in front of himself and Axew, the pair of Dragon Rage's hit the shield and were deflected away leaving Elgyem and Axe unharmed. Deino suddenly leapt in the air trying to clamp its sharpened teeth down on Elgyem's body but the psychic type was easily able to dodge the attacks which only infuriated Deino. With one final leap Deino managed to get a hold of Elgyem's arm making him stifle a pained cry. Ash looked around trying to come up with a way out and then spotted a large log nearby giving him an idea.

"Use Psychic to pick up that log and hit Deino with it."

Elgyem nodded and did his best to ignore the pain in his arm, he saw the log and used psychic to lift it up and he slammed it into the dragon which sent him crashing to the floor. The small dragon groaned and forced himself back to his feet ignoring the pain in his stomach. Meanwhile Axew and Bagon had exchanged some headbutts and glancing blows but nothing too serious thus far.

"Use Dragon Rage Axew."

Axew formed an orb of energy in his mouth and fired a beam of energy at Bagon who fired another Dragon Rage at Axew, the attacks clashed and cancelled each other out. To Iris and Axew's surprise the dragon from Hoenn had charged through the smoke with his lowered and aimed straight at Axew. With little time to react Axew dived to the left avoiding the charging Bagon who instead slammed into Elgyem knocked the psychic type to the floor. This gave Deino a clear chance and he started charging at the prone psychic type.

"Use Dragon Claw on Deino."

Axew's claws started growing and he threw himself at Deino raking his claws down his side creating three cuts and making it cry out in both pain and rage. Ash gave Iris a grateful nod and watched as Deino backed away to recover, he then spotted Bagon positioning himself to attack Axew who was now fully focussed on Deino. A screech from behind him made Axew away of Bagon, he turned around and saw the dragon poised in mid-air ready to attack. With little else to do Axew crossed his arms and hoped that he would be able to endure the upcoming attack.

"Elgyem use Psychic to stop Bagon."

Elgyem's eyes glowed blue and a similar blue glow surrounded Bagon freezing him in mid-air, the dragon tried to break free from its grasp, but its struggles were in vain. Seeing a great opportunity Axew quickly fired another Dragon Rage at point blank range giving Bagon no chance of dodging or getting any help from Deino. The attack engulfed him, and a cry of pain was let out by Bagon who was launched across the grasslands into Deino who was still recovering from Axew's Dragon Claw which sent both Pokémon sprawling and growling in pain as they got back to their feet.

"Finish it with one last Dragon Rage Axew."

"Use Psychic to split it in half and make sure it hits both of them."

Axew started forming the energy for Dragon Rage however this time it formed in a ball in front of his open mouth, Ash and Iris quickly realised that Axew had managed to learn Dragon Pulse. After a few seconds of charging Axew fired the orb, Elgyem then used Psychic to split the large ball into two smaller ones and directed one at Deino and the other a Bagon. He also used some more power to speed them up and in the blink of an eye the orbs slammed into the dragons earning two loud cried of pain and creating a shroud of smoke around them. Certain that the battle was over with that Ash and Iris each threw a Pokéball into the smoke capturing both Pokémon though neither knew which they'd caught.

* * *

Authors Notes

Well there's chapter 17, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters.

So the big question is which Pokémon did Iris and Ash get? You'll just have to wait until next week to find out.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.

Pokemon Ash currently has with him: Pikachu, Eevee, Vaporeon, Elgyem, Scizor, Gliscor, Ninetales & either Deino or Bagon


	18. Dragon Training

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this has become as we now have over 200 people following and/or favouriting. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you. Oh, and thanks to everyone who has voted on the poll.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is of course regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

The pair cheered as they saw that the dragons had been captured, they walked over to the Pokéballs and picked up the one they had thrown. They then threw the balls interested to see which Pokémon they had gotten. Their new Pokémon were revealed and both trainers grinned, Ash because he saw that the Deino which was one of the Pokémon he wanted to catch was now part of his team and Iris because she had witnessed the power of Salamence first hand.

Seeing the state both dragons, Axew and Elgyem were in Ash quickly took some healing items out of his bag and with Iris' help they healed the injuries. With the Pokémon they decided to have something to eat and get to know the new members of their respective teams. Ash took Dexter out of his pocket and pointed it his new dragon.

"This Deino is male and has the ability Hustle. He knows the following moves: Dragon Rage, Crunch, Dragon Pulse and Headbutt."

Due to the rather shallow move set Deino had Ash knew that they would have to work hard to expand that otherwise he could struggle in tournament battles where there was no way of knowing what the opponent could be using. Regardless of this Ash was happy, dragon Pokémon were strong and Deino would also added a dark type to his party as well which made him even more valuable.

"Hi Deino, I'm Ash and I want to help you become the very powerful dragon I know you could be."

The small dragon nodded a little surprised and proud by his new trainers' declaration, he'd heard his fair share of speeches from new trainers as they had caught other Pokémon but none of them had spoken with the conviction that Ash had. With his own dragon on side Ash returned him and then turned Dexter towards Bagon so Iris could find out what her new dragon could do.

"This Bagon is male and has the ability Rock Head. He knows the following moves: Dragon Rage, Headbutt, Dragon Claw and Zen Headbutt."

"I'm training to be a Dragon Master and I'd like to have you by my side as I do so." Iris said honestly and smiled as she saw a determined glint in Bagon's eyes, she then turned her attention back to Ash and returned Bagon. "Well I've caught a new dragon, we should head back to Alder."

"Wait a minute Iris, before we go back to Alder we're going to work on Draco Meteor."

"Maybe we should just head back and show Alder that I caught a new Pokémon. Besides Axew learned Dragon Pulse."

Iris chuckled nervously and started walking back towards the entrance to Floccesy Ranch hoping that Ash would forget it and follow her. The dragon master in training had her hopes dashed as Ash placed a hand on her shoulder and gently made her face him.

"Running away won't help Iris, you have to face this and do it now. While Dragon Pulse is a very good move, Draco Meteor will take Axew to the next level."

Despite knowing that Ash was right Iris couldn't help but think back to what had happened only a few hours ago, the moment that the Draco Meteor exploded in Axew's mouth kept replaying over and over again. Iris' head dropped as the embarrassment she had felt because of that was now coming back to the surface combined with a fear of messing up again. Ash moved a hand beneath Iris' chin and lifted her head, so he could look her in the eye.

"Listen Iris every trainer has had trouble teaching their Pokémon new moves, you should have seen the amount of trouble me and Pikachu had learning Iron Tail." Ash said with a chuckle as Pikachu nodded in agreement.

There was a brief silence where only the rustling of the nearby trees could be heard as Iris mulled over Ash's words, Iris closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She then looked back into Ash's eyes and Ash grinned as he saw the fire in Iris' eyes. Knowing that he had made his point Ash quickly sent out all his Pokémon to help Iris and Axew learn Draco Meteor.

* * *

After a lot of attempts to use Draco Meteor they were a little closer than they had been when they started but it was still far from perfect and Elgyem was starting to get tired, he'd been using his power to protect Axew from taking damage and it was really starting to take its toll on him. With Elgyem tiring Pikachu took over by using Iron Tail to hit the orb away from Axew just as it was about to explode. One of these orbs managed to burst a balloon belonging to a certain trio sending them all blasting off unbeknownst to everyone.

"Alright I have one last thing to try. Ninetales I need your help now."

The ice type happily stood in front of Ash happy to get a chance to help her new trainer, she'd been sat on the side-lines watching and waiting for a while now and had been itching to help. Upon seeing Ninetales looking at her Iris shuddered again as the presence of the ice type unnerved her even though there was nothing but kindness in Ninetales' eyes. Even though Ash wanted Iris to get over her fear of ice types he was in a way glad that she still had it right now, he intended to use her fear as well as Axew's to try and get him to use Draco Meteor properly.

"You've been improving but Axew still can't quite get it right yet. So now we're going to make it simple, use Draco Meteor now or you'll be hit by this Ice Beam that Ninetales will use."

"W…wait a minute Ash, I'm not sure about this."

"Well I am, Ninetales use Ice Beam." Ash instructed. "But make it really weak." He whispered so only she would hear.

Iris and Axew's eyes widened as they watched the ice fox start forming an ice blue orb in her mouth, they looked to Ash hoping that he was just kidding and would tell Ninetales to stop but a shake of his head told them that he would not do that. Seeing that there was no other option Iris and Axew nodded and the latter formed an orange orb in his mouth focussing fully on trying to control the direction of the attack.

"Do it now Ninetales."

"Please use Draco Meteor Axew!" Iris yelled in panic.

Looking deep within himself Axew started forming the orb focussing on controlling it so he could counter the Ice Beam that would soon be headed his way. Once the orb was formed Axew opened his eyes and saw a beam of ice blue coming from the orb that Ninetales had formed. The dragon threw his head forward and watched the attack shoot from his mouth and straight at the Ice Beam. The attacks clashed and cancelled each other eliciting a relieved sigh from both Axew and Iris while everyone else watched on happy to see that Axew had finally done it. Iris then picked up Axew and hugged the small dragon tightly feeling tremendously proud of her long-time friend.

"It worked, you did it Axew! How did you know that would work Ash?"

"Honestly, I wasn't entirely sure. I took a risk and hoped for a fight or flight reaction. You know, fear can be quite the motivator, when you're forced into a corner you can do things that you may not think you can."

"You mean you used an ice attack on Axew and didn't know what would happen, what if Axew hadn't been able to do it and been hit by that Ice Beam?!"

Ash backed up nervously from the furious dragon trainer getting the distinct feeling of déjà vu as he saw Iris glaring at him just like she had on the day they met and unfortunately, he knew that the excuse he used last time wouldn't work here.

"Well I mean I was ninety-nine percent sure that Axew would be fine and Ninetales didn't put much power into the attack, even a dragon wouldn't have taken much damage." Ash said nervously.

An all too familiar growl had Ash really wondering what he could do to possible salvage this situation, he was for perhaps for the first time in his career as a trainer wishing that Team Rocket would turn up and annoy him with their stupid motto. Desperately he looked around for someone or something to help him out until his eyes fell upon Ninetales who could see that her trainer was in trouble with his friend. Without a moments thought Ninetales decided to help him, she walked up to Iris making the dragon master in training freeze in place. Silence took over as everyone wondered how Iris would react to being in such close proximity to that which she fears.

"Th..thank you Ninetales for helping." Iris said shakily.

Ninetales nodded to show she was happy to help and to her surprise she felt Iris' hand patting her head and felt her fingers slowly trailing through her fur. The ice type wasn't the only one surprised by this as everyone bar Deino and Bagon looked on shocked to see Iris not only standing near the ice type but also stroking Ninetales. While most didn't see Ash could see that Iris was trying her best to stay cool under the circumstances even though she was clearly still scared of ice types. He walked over to Iris and placed a hand on Iris' shoulder while he also ran a hand through Ninetales' fur.

"You okay Iris?" Ash asked with a concerned tone.

"Terrified, but I can handle this." Iris replied, the fear evident in her voice.

Presuming that she had defused the situation and seeing that she was still making Iris uncomfortable Ninetales bowed her head and then joined the other Pokémon leaving Ash once again alone to endure the wrath of Iris. Knowing that there was nothing he could do other than take whatever punishment Ash stood there and closed his eyes waiting for Iris to do something. He couldn't suppress a gasp of surprise as he felt Iris wrap her arms around him and hug him, his eyes shot open and he looked down seeing Iris looking straight back at him with a blush on her face. The dragon master in training quickly averted her gaze as she felt Ash return her hug.

"I..Iris?"

"Thank you for helping me and Axew with Draco Meteor. I'm still angry that you did such a risky thing, but it worked so I guess that's what matters in the end."

"I'm happy to help Iris." Ash replied with a smile. "We should probably head back to Alder now, it's starting to get late and he'll want to see that you have caught Bagon."

Iris nodded in agreement with Ash and both trainers released their hold on each other, they then returned their Pokémon and made their way back to the entrance of the ranch. They held up the Pokéballs containing Bagon and Deino to show that they had caught a Pokémon, they were quickly congratulated by the couple, the farmer clapped Ash on the back and his wife hugged Iris. A little confused by the exchange Ash and Iris smiled and to the farmer and his wife as they left Floccesy Ranch and headed back towards the town.

* * *

After leaving the ranch Iris had quickly broken into a sprint, determined to show Alder that she had done as he asked and that Axew could now properly use Draco Meteor. The young dragon master in training was now stood in front of Alder's house waiting for Ash to catch up, her chest heaving as she had run as fast as she could. A few moments later the Kanto native appeared and bent over with his hands on his knees as he breathed heavily, he straightened himself and grinned at Iris.

"Well it seems you're just as big a kid as I am." Ash said with a chuckle.

"It's all your fault, you're a bad influence." Iris said in response, playfully sticking her tongue out at him.

The pair had a brief stare down and then burst into laughter, the noise was clearly heard by the resident of the house as the door swung open revealing the imposing form of Alder. Upon seeing Alder both trainers quickly quietened down and looked up at the Unova champion. Alder studied them both with a neutral look on his face for a moment and then a huge smile formed on his face as he saw Iris now in a much better mood than she had been last time he saw her. He glanced at Ash and was sure that he was a big reason for that.

"Well young Iris, it seems that you are in much better spirits then you were earlier."

"Well Ash is to thank for that, he managed to help me get through my moping. I completed your task while we were gone, I caught a new dragon Pokémon, a Bagon oh and Axew can now use Draco Meteor properly."

"Very good Iris, I'm pleased to hear that you did as I instructed and managed to train Axew to use Draco Meteor. I wish I could battle you as I promised Iris, but I've been informed that Team Plasma have been spotted around the surrounding area and near Virbank, I have to go and find out whatever they are planning."

The champion of Unova walked briskly out of his home and onto the arena like area outside his home quickly followed by Ash and Iris who exchanged a nod both wanting to help Alder with Team Plasma. While they knew that he was an incredibly powerful trainer weight of numbers could lead to him being defeated.

"We can help out." Ash suggested

"I'm sure you both could but I'd rather you stay out of trouble and continue with your journeys. Leave Team Plasma to people like me." Alder said in tone that said there would be no arguing.

Despite wanting to debate the issue with Alder it was clear that he wouldn't be swayed on this so they reluctantly nodded. With that settled Alder sent out his Braviary and jumped onto the flying types back. He bid both trainers farewell and made a promise that they would each get a battle against him sometime in the future. With a screech Braviary launched himself into the air, Ash and Iris watched Alder fade from view, as it was starting to get dark Ash and Iris decided to return to the Pokémon Centre and continue to Virbank tomorrow.

* * *

Authors Notes

Well there's chapter 18, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.

Pokémon Ash currently has with him: Pikachu, Eevee, Vaporeon, Elgyem, Scizor, Gliscor, Ninetales & Deino


	19. Time To Train

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this has become as we now have over 200 people following and/or favouriting. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you. Oh, and thanks to everyone who has voted on the poll.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is, of course, regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

The next morning after a quick breakfast Ash and Iris left Floccesy Town and started their journey to Virbank City. During the morning Ash had been thinking about his upcoming gym battle with whoever was the leader in Virbank, he decided that he really needed to do some training since he hadn't had the chance to do much since getting to Unova. After suggesting the idea to Iris who was more than happy to do some training especially with Bagon. The pair quickly looked for a suitable training area and as lunch approached they found a small clearing that would be perfect for training.

Ash sent out his Pokémon and instructed them to do a free for all like they had done back in Pallet Town, it had been good for them to learn how to react on their own in battles since there were times where Ash wouldn't be able to give a command in time. Despite not having any prior practice, Deino quickly got involved in the battle and was capable of holding his own both on the offence and the defence. While Ash's Pokémon were battling Iris was getting to know Bagon and had started training him with Axew hoping that the two dragons would inspire each other to greater heights.

Now that he had some free time where he would get no distractions Ash sat down at the base of the tree and secretly took Navi out of his pocket. Since he knew nothing about the next gym leader due to the changes caused by the disaster that hit Unova he needed Navi's help. He turned the device on and the familiar orb appeared and turned to face Ash.

"Greetings Ash. How may I be of service?"

"I need you to tell me everything you know about the next gym leader."

"Very well Ash. The next gym leader is Roxie and much like Cheren very little is known about Roxie due to the gym only being set up recently. Roxie is a user of poison type Pokémon and the only Pokémon that are known so far are a Koffing, a Trubbish, a Grimer and a Whirlipede. However, based on what Cheren said it's highly unlikely that any of these Pokémon will be used against you."

A confused look appeared on Ash's face as he wondered how Navi knew about what Cheren had told him but quickly remembered that Navi could not be completely switched off so she'd obviously overhead the conversation back in Aspertia. Ash thanked Navi and then placed her back in his pocket before Iris noticed, he then cast his gaze to where his Pokémon were training nearby and was pleased to see that Deino was joining into the free for all they had going on.

The Pokémon sat in his lap suddenly started squirming in his grip, he turned his gaze to Eevee and saw that she was watching the battle too. Ash turned Eevee around, so she was facing him and was surprised to see her trying to keep watching the battle, it suddenly started to make sense as he thought about why she was so fascinated by the battle.

"Do you want to start training too Eevee?"

Eevee nodded emphatically and looked up at Ash pleadingly. A frown formed on Ash's face as he considered whether or not he should allow Eevee to start training, she'd been through a lot prior to becoming a part of the family and he didn't know if training her could bring back some painful memories for the young Pokémon. He looked down into the big brown eyes of Eevee and despite his worries found himself wanting to allow Eevee to train. With a sigh Ash nodded and hugged Eevee, he wasn't about to deny her something she wanted.

"Okay but we're going to take it very slowly."

Eevee yipped happily and nuzzled against Ash, since she watched the battle against Cheren and saw how much the victory meant to Ash and the Pokémon she had been desperate for the chance to train and someday battle for Ash. Since Eevee was interested in battling Ash needed to find out everything about Eevee, he took Dexter out and pointed it at Eevee.

As she looked at the device being pointed at her Eevee started to feel nervous, the last time someone had heard what she was capable of they had made fun of her and beat her claiming that she was weak and pathetic. While she knew that Ash would never do anything like that to her she was still worried about what he would think.

"This Eevee is female and has the ability Adaptability. She knows the following moves: Shadow Ball, Quick Attack, Take Down, Iron Tail and Bite."

"Well I have to say Eevee that is an impressive move set, I don't think we'll have to worry about teaching you new moves for now. So, we'll just focus on making you stronger."

The first thing Eevee felt was shock at hearing such high praise, she looked into Ash's eyes and saw that he meant every word. She thought over what he said and the praise from Ash was now making Eevee feel incredibly proud and a little embarrassed which made her blush a little, she forced the blush from her face and then nuzzled Ash's face happily. After a few moments Eevee stopped her nuzzling and then leapt out of Ash's arms heading towards the huge battle that was going on between the rest of Ash's Pokémon. Upon seeing what Eevee was about to do, Ash immediately got to his feet and scooped Eevee up hugging her tight to him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa Eevee. I said we're taking it slow, you're not going to be jumping into a free for all yet. You're not ready for that kind of training, but you will be, I promise."

Eevee was a little disheartened but understood why Ash was doing this, his Pokémon had been properly trained for this and from what she'd seen Elgyem and Deino were more than strong enough to hold their own. She on the other hand had no such experience, the only time she had fought was when Team Rocket had first taken her from her parents and she had been quickly beaten. Other than that, she had no combat experience putting her far behind the others here. Eevee vowed to herself that she would work hard, become strong and help Ash achieve his dreams.

* * *

While the rest of his Pokémon battled, Ash started helping Eevee the same way he had trained his Pokémon back in Pallet Town. The pair started by running some laps around the area everyone was training to help Eevee with her stamina and speed. After that Ash wanted to test out how effectively Eevee could use her moves, a fallen nearby tree providing the perfect thing for her to test her attacks on. The only two moves that he really wanted to see were Iron Tail and Shadow Ball, but he still asked her to show him her other moves just, so he could see if she needed help with her more basic moves.

Eevee was quick to follow Ash's instructions and was eager to demonstrate her abilities, she actually felt quite proud of herself as she broke the fallen tree with her Take Down and Bite. Her pride was quickly shattered as she watched her Shadow Ball faze out of existence as soon as it hit the tree and saw her Iron Tail fail to even dent the tree. Feeling embarrassed and disheartened she sat down and her ears drooped as she stared at the tree. Ash saw that Eevee was obviously a little downtrodden after what had just happened, so he sat down next to her and gently stroked her back prompting her to look up at him.

"Eevee you did an amazing job, I'm proud of you. I know you are disappointed about your Iron Tail and Shadow Ball, but we'll work on that." Ash said.

Hearing Ash say that quickly made Eevee forget her attempts at both Shadow Ball and Iron Tail and she leaped up on to Ash's shoulder nuzzling him. It was obvious to Ash that Eevee more so than any of his other Pokémon would require constant praise and acknowledgment. Her confidence was obviously shot to pieces and he would have to work on rebuilding that, something that he was more than happy to do for her. Ash chuckled as Eevee's fur tickled his face, he then took Eevee off his shoulder and hugged her.

"So, do you want to try some more training, or have you had enough for today?"

A determined gleam appeared in Eevee's eyes, she then leaped out of Ash's arms and started running laps again like before with once again Ash in hot pursuit. After a few more paces Ash got alongside Eevee and looked down at her with a smile on his face. Moments like this were what he lived for as a trainer, being alongside his Pokémon, his family, and growing stronger together. As he watched Eevee pushing herself he couldn't help but think about when she would be able to fight by his side.

* * *

Meanwhile, Iris had been working hard with Bagon, she was glad to find that her newest dragon was a quick learner and a very strong battler. She had already been quite certain of the latter prior to the training but after watching him battle against Axew in some practice battles it was obvious that Bagon was a talented Pokémon. The presence of another dragon seemed to be affecting Axew as well as her old friend was battling harder than ever clearly trying to maintain his position as the strongest dragon. It was good to see the pair getting along and already forming a friendly rivalry which was pushing each other to get stronger.

Iris cast a glance over to Ash and saw him once again training alongside Eevee, they had stopped running laps and Ash was trying to help Eevee focus on Iron Tail. At first, it seemed as though they were making little to no progress but on closer inspection, you could tell that slowly Eevee was improving. She was still far away from being ready to be involved in proper battles, but she was getting stronger. Suddenly Ash looked away from Eevee straight at Iris and smiled at her, adding a small wave afterward which she returned, he then turned his focus back to Eevee and started training again.

Iris sighed and sat down as she started watching Axew and Bagon battle again, she was glad that Ash had suggested taking a couple of days to train as it was giving her a great chance to see everything her Pokémon could do and it was giving her a chance to come up with a way to tell Ash that she intended to stay at Floccesy Town and train with Alder providing the champion agreed to help her. She'd enjoyed her time with Ash but knew that they both had their own paths to tread with their own goals to achieve.

* * *

Authors Notes

Well, there's chapter 19, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters. Also feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.

Pokémon Ash currently has with him: Pikachu, Eevee, Vaporeon, Elgyem, Scizor, Gliscor, Ninetales & Deino


	20. Hiding In Plain Sight

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this has become as we now have over 200 people following and/or favouriting. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you. Oh, and thanks to everyone who has voted on the poll.

Okay guys I've made quite a substantial change to the events in Virbank, I will be doing a lot of changes like this so it's no a carbon copy of game or anime.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is, of course, regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

As the day wore on the training gradually lost its intensity as the Pokémon began to feel fatigue kicking in. Both trainers were more than satisfied with what they'd seen today and ended the training session giving the Pokémon a chance to rest. Dinner was soon made for the Pokémon who ate and then after their day of intense training they quickly fell to sleep, Ash and Iris decided to join them and get an early start the next day. The early night had the expected result as everyone had woken up even earlier than usual the next day. Ash and Iris returned their Pokémon and then continued their journey to Virbank.

As they walked Ash grinned as he felt his excitement building for his upcoming gym battle against Roxie, it had been a while since he'd battled a skilled user of poison Pokémon, so he was looking forward to it. Iris on the other hand wasn't feeling quite as excited, she still hadn't come up with a way to tell Ash of her decision and was rapidly running out of time to do so. After he won his gym battle he would obviously be headed to Castelia City soon which gave her a few days at most. While they had been walking Ash had noticed something was wrong with Iris, she'd been unusually quiet and seemed to be faraway, deep in thought.

"Are you okay Iris?"

"Yeah I've just got something on my mind."

"Well if I can help at all just say."

Iris simply nodded in response and then went back into deep thought, Ash looked at Iris and sighed as it was clear she wasn't going to share whatever was on her mind. Since he had nothing else to do right now Ash started to walk a little quicker, he had wanted to get to Virbank reasonably early, so he could have his battle with Roxie as soon as possible. Now he wanted to get there not only for that but just so that he would have something to do rather than walk in relative silence like they currently were.

* * *

Ash and Iris arrived in Virbank earlier than expected, because of this both trainers decided to go to the Pokémon Centre, so Ash could make sure that everyone was one hundred percent ready for the gym battle. They walked into the Pokémon Centre and handed all their Pokémon to Nurse Joy who took them out back and did a check up on them.

The nurse soon returned and passed the Pokémon back to Ash and Iris who placed their Pokéballs back in their proper places while Eevee and Pikachu perched themselves on Ash's shoulders and Axew buried himself in Iris' hair. The pair thanked Nurse Joy, they then left the Pokémon Centre and headed towards where Navi said the Virbank gym is.

"The Virbank City gym is around the next corner on the right."

Ash turned around a corner and found himself stood in a grungy alleyway staring at a dingy door that allegedly was the entrance to the gym. Ash was dubious that this was a gym, but his doubts soon vanished as he saw the official Pokémon League board on the door stating that this was in fact a legitimate gym unlike AJ's.

It was a shock to Ash seeing a gym in this state and in such a dodgy location, it was without a doubt the worst gym he had ever seen, and he had to wonder how Roxie had managed to get a gym set up here. Ash reluctantly pushed the door open but before he could go inside a drunken idiot burst out of the club, he pushed past him and Iris knocking the latter to the ground.

"Iris are you okay?" Ash asked as he offered his hand to Iris.

"Y…yeah I'm fine." Iris replied as she took the offered help and was quickly lifted to her feet by Ash.

"Who decided that this location and people like that were acceptable for a gym? I doubt this gym will last long if it's run like this."

Iris nodded in agreement and then followed Ash as he walked into the questionable building, they closed the door behind them and walked to the nearby desk where a man was typing on a computer. The man quickly noticed the pair and turned away from the computer giving Ash and Iris his full attention. Ash was wary of this man there was something about him that seemed a little off, but he pushed those thoughts aside assuming that they were based on the grotty location and the drunk guy from before.

"Hey, I'm here to win my second badge, I want to battle the leader now." Ash declared "And get out of this dump." He mumbled afterward.

"I'm sorry sir but Roxie is in the middle of a concert right now and we have been told not to disturb her unless it is of the upmost importance."

"Tell her that Ash Ketchum is here and waiting for a battle."

The smile that the man had been wearing quickly vanished as soon as he heard Ash's name, he quickly tapped something into the computer and then got up from his desk. He hurriedly walked through the door behind him mumbling a response so Ash and Iris leaving the pair confused at his sudden change of personality.

* * *

The concert was currently at the halfway point meaning the band was taking a short break which the man was grateful for, it would make it a lot easier telling her about who had just arrived. He pushed past the crowd of rowdy drunks and went backstage heading straight to the room with Roxie's name on. Without a moments hesitation he charged into the room and found that the woman he had been searching for was sat in her chair with a bottle of booze in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

"I hope this is extremely important, I'm expected back on stage soon and I have an image to uphold."

"Excuse me for interrupting you but Ash Ketchum is here wanting to challenge you."

A wicked smile formed on Roxie's face, she stubbed out her cigarrete and finished her booze throwing the empty bottle on the ground shattering it and leaving shards of glass on the floor.

"Hmm I was wondering when he would finally get here."

Roxie got up from her plush chair and walked over to her wardrobe and without a care in the world she quickly stripped off her stained and burnt clothes not caring that she was now naked in front of him. The man blushed and turned away from her, he stared at the wall and tried to remove the sight he had just seen from his head.

"That is not appropriate behaviour for a gym leader ma'am."

The response from him merely earned an almost hysterical laugh from Roxie who after carefully looking through her wardrobe picked an outfit. She then started changing into the clothes which she has no love for but are deemed more appropriate for a gym leader. With her attire sorted Roxie retrieved the Pokéballs that were in a nearby dresser and put them in her pocket.

"Send Ketchum in, I'll deal with him myself."

"Of course, ma'am."

The man immediately fled the room leaving Roxie alone, once outside he took a deep breath and then headed back to where Ash and Iris were still waiting patiently. He motioned for the pair to follow him so that Ash could have his gym battle, with no reason to question the man Ash and Iris followed his lead heading deeper into the gym.

* * *

Ash found himself getting more and more disappointed with this gym the further he got inside, judging by the people there and the disgusting state the floor was in it was obvious that there had indeed been a concert on and that had just been stopped. On the stage there was a band headed by who he assumed was Roxie, the woman stepped off the stage and walked up to Ash offering her hand to him. Ash looked at the hand dubiously wondering what this so-called gym leader had been prior to him arriving, but despite this after a brief moment of hesitation he reluctantly shook it.

"Hello Ash, I apologise for the state the gym is in. Had I known you would be here I would have prepared it properly." Roxie said sweetly.

"It doesn't matter, let's battle. I have a gym badge to win."

"Hmm straight to the point I see, I like that. Alright then let's do this, Arbok and Weezing lets crush him!"

"Elgyem and Ninetales I choose you!"

The horde of people quickly separated as the floor split and a battlefield appeared from beneath it. The selected Pokémon stepped onto the battlefield as Ash and Roxie stared each other down from the trainer boxes. Ash found it a little odd seeing a pair of Kanto Pokémon representing an Unova gym, he shrugged it off since Kanto Pokémon had been becoming more common in the Unova region. He was still a little disappointed though, he had been hoping to battle some new Pokémon and learn their weaknesses as opposed to a couple of Pokémon he has fought and beaten countless times.

"Elgyem use Psybeam and Ninetales use…"

Before Ash could finish his command the door behind him burst open, he turned to the door as saw a man wearing a Team Rocket uniform thrown through the now open doorway. The man quickly started crawling away from the imposing figure stood in the doorway and crawled over to Roxie and cowered behind her. The sight shocked both Ash and Iris who were now glancing between the large figure stood in the doorway and the grunt grovelling behind Roxie.

"Roxie, what's going on here?" Ash asked.

"I'll tell you what's going on Ash." Alder declared as he stepped through the door. "This gym is a cover for Team Rocket in Unova and the woman you're battling is not Roxie."

"Are you serious Alder?" Iris asked.

"Deadly serious Iris. I was investigating the claims that Team Plasma were here, but it was actually Team Rocket, and this is their base of operations."

Ash, Iris and Alder all stared at the fake Roxie who was now glaring down at the idiotic grunt who had lead Alder here, she'd been so close to having Ketchum exactly where she wanted him. The fake Roxie let out a sigh and kicked the grovelling grunt away from her and then nodded at various members of the crowd. The ones she had nodded at sent out their Pokémon to battle Alder while the rest of the crowd fled, scared and confused by what had just happened. All of them just wanted to get out of there before things got out of hand.

"Hmm it would appear our cover is blown, I tried to tell him that setting up here was a bad idea, but he wouldn't listen. It's a shame really, this had been fun while it lasted but we have to retreat for now." The fake Roxie sighed

"You're not going anywhere." Ash declared. "Pikachu use Volt Tackle."

Pikachu leapt off of Ash's shoulder and was surround in electricity as he charged across the room knocking out anything that got in his way as he rapidly approached the fake Roxie who had stood there was a smirk on her face. Just as Pikachu was about to hit her Arbok and Weezing got in between the fake Roxie and Pikachu who crashed into Arbok and after a short battle for dominance he knocked the snake out. This little battle had given the fake Roxie enough time to come up with an escape plan.

"Weezing use Smokescreen."

The poison Pokémon emitted a thick smoke which filled the room and blinded Pikachu making him miss his intended target and instead slam into the wall, as the mouse connected with the wall he broke straight through it and into a small room. Ash and Alder sent out their flying Pokémon to clear the smoke which revealed that the Team Rocket members had fled, and that Pikachu was stood in the gaping hole he'd made in the wall. Ash quickly walked over to Pikachu who was beckoning for him to come see something and once he was there Ash was horrified by what he saw.

* * *

Authors Notes

Well, there's chapter 20, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters. Also feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.

Pokémon Ash currently has with him: Pikachu, Eevee, Vaporeon, Elgyem, Scizor, Gliscor, Ninetales & Deino


	21. Getting Complex

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this has become as we now have over 200 people following and/or favouriting. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you. Oh, and thanks to everyone who has voted on the poll.

If you guys haven't already noticed I'm going to be using cliff hangers whenever I can, I like them because it makes you guys want to know what happens next and hopefully get you more excited for the next chapter. Although I did lose a favourite ten minutes after I uploaded the last chapter. Coincidence? Probably but you never know.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is, of course, regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

In the room Pikachu had burst into there was a woman locked in handcuffs that were chained to the wall, the rags she was wearing barely covered her and to say the room she'd been locked in was disgusting was a massive understatement. Ash walked into the room and fought down his nausea, so he could help the woman and upon getting a closer look at her recognised her as the real Roxie.

"Roxie can you hear me?" Ash asked.

The young woman heard the voice and stood up shakily while looking pleadingly at Ash, but due to how weak she was she passed out and started to collapse. Luckily Ash was quick to react, and he managed to catch her before she could hit the floor. Ash was worried about the rocker in his arms, she was extremely gaunt and light as a feather which worried Ash but not as much as the amount of blood around her wrists where she had obviously been fighting against the handcuffs.

"Pikachu break the chains with Iron Tail."

The mouse nodded, his tail turned metallic and he quickly broke the chains fearing Roxie from her prison. With the rocker now free Ash stood up carrying Roxie who was still unconscious. Knowing that Team Rocket were probably still in the area, Ash sent all of his Pokémon to protect them just in case they were attacked.

"I've found Roxie and she needs medical attention now!" Ash yelled as he carried Roxie out of the room earning a shocked gasp from Iris and Alder.

"Indeed, I will pursue Team Rocket while you two take Roxie to the Pokémon Centre. Once she is safe come and join me, so we can stop them." Alder instructed.

The trio quickly made their way out of the gym and just as they were about to split up an explosion from the south caused the ground to shake which would have knocked Ash to the floor had Scizor not caught him. Ash gave the bug a grateful nod and then cast his gaze to the south where a thick plume of black smoke was rising from the ground. Alder suddenly spotted an airship over the Virbank Complex which was clearly one of Team Plasma's vehicles.

"It's Team Plasma, they're here too. I have to go and stop them, there's no telling what they might do."

"What about Roxie and Team Rocket?" Ash asked.

"You two take Roxie to the Pokémon Centre and make sure she's safe then come and join me at the Virbank Complex."

"What about Team Rocket?"

Alder sighed and looked in the direction Team Rocket had fled in, although it pained him to think this he knew that they would have to let Team Rocket escape. There was no telling what Team Plasma were up to at the Virbank Complex while Team Rocket had lost their base of operations in this area and would be unlikely to cause any problems in the near future.

"We'll have to let them escape this time, Roxie needs medical attention and we have to stop Team Plasma."

"I could go after Team Rocket on my own." Ash suggested.

"No! I cannot allow you to go after them alone, you have no idea what could happen."

The thought of letting Team Rocket get away after what they'd done to the woman in his arms grated against Ash, but Alder was a Champion, and, in these situations, they knew best. So, despite his own thoughts on the situation Ash nodded and started walking to the Pokémon Centre. Alder could tell that Ash didn't agree with his decision, but he was relieved to see that the young trainer was albeit reluctantly following his orders.

"Fine. We'll catch up with you as quick as possible." Ash muttered.

With that Alder quickly made his way south to the Virbank Complex while Ash and Iris ran to the Pokémon Centre.

"Go to the Virbank Complex Iris, Alder may need your help. I'll make sure Roxie gets the help we need."

"Okay I'll go but first promise me you'll join us there and won't go after Team Rocket."

Ash sighed, he'd been hoping that Iris wouldn't suspect a thing, so he could chase down Team Rocket and he was a little annoyed that Iris had obviously seen though his. Since there was no way he would be able to do that now he sighed again and nodded.

"I promise."

Iris smiled and then sprinted off after Alder while Ash entered the Pokémon Centre with Roxie still unconscious in his arms. Once his inside Nurse Joy began her normal greeting she gave to all trainers but stopped as soon as she saw the young woman in Ash's arms. Seeing the state Roxie was in Nurse Joy's eyes widened in horror and she quickly shouted for a couple of Audino to come with a stretcher. In mere moments a pair of Audino ran in with a stretcher, Ash gently placed the rocker on it and watched as the Audino took her to the medical area.

"Do you know what happened to Roxie?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Team Rocket captured her and have kept her locked away for Arceus know how long."

"Well judging by the looks of her I don't know how much longer she could have survived. We're lucky you found her when you did."

"I'm just glad we found her. I'm sorry but I have to go now, Alder is at the Virbank Complex battling Team Plasma and needs my help."

Nurse Joy nodded in response, she was fully focussed on Roxie now who was now laid on a hospital bed thanks to the Audino. Knowing that his job here was done for now Ash charged out of the building, he looked to the west for a moment, considering going that way but he'd made a promise to Iris and no matter how much he wanted to stop Team Rocket he wouldn't break that promise. After a moment of staring west Ash sighed and then started running south to help Alder and Iris against Team Plasma.

* * *

As Ash got closer to the complex the sounds of battle could be heard and seen as beams of various colours lit up the skies. Just as he was about to enter the complex a couple of Team Plasma grunts stood in his way both with a couple of Pokéballs ready. Ash looked over his shoulder and knew that all his Pokémon could easily deal with whatever these goons sent out, but Iris and Alder needed his help and quick, so he couldn't spend to long dealing with these two.

"I don't have time to waste on the likes of you, Pikachu Thunder Wave."

The mouse launched a paralysing bolt of electricity at the Team Plasma grunts which left them on the floor spasming at the paralysis that they were now under. With the first guards dealt with Ash ran into the complex and immediately spotted Iris, Axe, Bagon and an Excadrill which was obviously Iris' older Pokémon that she didn't want to talk about. It was obvious why; the ground type was blatantly ignoring Iris which made Ash think back to when Charizard was like that. Time would tell whether Iris would be able to earn Excadrill's trust and respect like he had earned Charizard.

Ash shook away the memory and then made his way to Iris' side who was relieved to see that Ash had come and joined them in the fight against Team Rocket. She had been certain he'd come but there was a small nagging doubt regardless. He gave Iris a quick nod and returned it and then the pair started taking the fight to Team Plasma, both trainers issuing commands to support each other's Pokémon. Well apart from Excadrill who was doing his own thing and getting pushed back because of it.

Alder spotted Ash out of the corner of his eye and was surprised to see the young man here, after Iris had come here alone Alder was certain that Ash would go after Team Rocket. Although when he said this to Iris she was adamant that Ash would be here, and it appeared as though she was right. Ash had come here to help just as she said he would. Alder had to wonder what made Iris so sure that Ash would come here and not chase after Team Rocket. His question was soon answered as he watched the pair interact, despite them only knowing each other for a short time they seemed to have developed a close friendship. One that gave them the ability to confidently believe in each other and fight effectively as a team.

"You two stay here and stop any Team Plasma members trying to assist their leader."

Ash and Iris nodded in response and focussed once again on the battle with Team Plasma while Alder sallied forth and delved deeper into the complex searching for the leader of this group of Team Plasma grunts. Upon seeing Alder heading towards where their leader was a few grunts tried to stop him however Scizor and Gliscor immediately got in their way and prevented them from chasing down the Champion.

Throughout the complex the battle raged on, Team Plasma were slowly getting pushed back by the combined strength of Ash and Iris as their Pokémon started to defeat more and more of the Team Plasma Pokémon. Due to the teamwork shown by almost all of their Pokémon, Ash and Iris knew that their Pokémon had taken very little damage as there had always been one Pokémon ready to defend the other if they needed support.

Excadrill was not so lucky though as he had gradually been overwhelmed by the Team Plasma grunts Pokémon, Ash and Iris had tried to help him, but he had fought on his own away from the group, so they had been unable to support him leading to him being trapped in a net. A grappling rope was suddenly shot from the air ship at the net that Excadrill had now been trapped in. This had gone unnoticed by Ash and Iris who had been focussed on the battle against the Plasma grunts.

* * *

With the Pokémon belonging to Team Plasma being gradually taken out Ash turned his focus from the Pokémon to the grunts themselves. It was clear that they were on the verge of retreating to their air ship and escaping however Ash and Pikachu weren't about to let that happen.

"Pikachu paralyse them with Thunder Wave."

As he had done to the first grunt they met Pikachu shot a paralysing wave of electricity at the grunts taking down a few while the rest started to retreat as they saw some of their companions being paralysed by the Pikachu, they fell back to one of the aircrafts they had used to get here. The pilot of the air ship overhead started to flee fearing for their freedom and started to retract the net that had captured Excadrill. Iris suddenly saw this and without a moment thought she jumped onto the net and started pulling at it trying to break it. The mole was surprised to see Iris acting so recklessly and risking herself to try and help him escape.

"I failed you once Excadrill. I won't do it again."

Even though he was focussed on battling Team Plasma, Ash noticed Iris quickly being drawn towards the ship flying overhead. His eyes widened as he saw her ascending higher and higher meaning the drop should she fall would be fatal. Ash looked around at all of his Pokémon wondering who could help her and spotted Gliscor easily beating the Swoobat he was facing.

"Gliscor help Iris."

The bat nodded and knocked away the nearby Swoobat sending it crashing to the ground unconscious, with his enemy defeated Gliscor tried flying towards Iris but was quickly blocked off by a trio of Woobat's. Ash once again looked at all of their Pokémon hoping that someone could help but they were all still battling off the retreating Team Plasma grunts. With no one able to help Ash looked up helplessly and a horrified look appeared on his face as he saw Iris lose her grip on the net and start plummeting towards the ground as she let out a scream of pure terror.

* * *

Authors Notes

Well, there's chapter 21, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters. Also feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.

Oh an one last thing before I stop my rambling, I know there are errors in my speeling, punctuation, grammar and other writing aspects. Thing is I'm just doing this for a bit of fun, I'm not an amazing writing and I would never profess to be one. So by all means point out the mistakes so I can fix them but tell me in a casual friendly way. Saying you've got this wrong you *bleeping* idiot is really not helpful.

Pokémon Ash currently has with him: Pikachu, Eevee, Vaporeon, Elgyem, Scizor, Gliscor, Ninetales & Deino


	22. A Sage Returns

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this has become as we now have over 200 people following and/or favouriting. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you. Oh, and thanks to everyone who has voted on the poll.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is, of course, regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

Excadrill saw Iris falling, heard her panicked screams and with a roar he shredded the net that had captured him, he then aimed himself towards Iris desperate to save her. The ground type caught her and turned around, so he'd hit the ground first hoping it would save her from harm. Ash saw this but knew that that wouldn't be enough to save her, there was only one Pokémon here who could help them now.

"Elgyem please try and catch Excadrill and Iris with your Psychic!"

Elgyem used his psychic powers to repel all the nearby enemies and then focussed on Iris and Excadrill who were rapidly falling towards the ground. He tried to capture them both with his psychic powers but no matter how hard he tried Elgyem couldn't slow them down. As he watched the pair getting closer to the ground Elgyem looked deep inside him for some more power to save his friends and he soon found it. The psychic type suddenly shone white and mere seconds later a Beheeyem was now levitating in the air, with his new power he was able to easily trap Iris and Excadrill in a psychic hold and gently placed them on the ground.

As soon as they touched the ground, Iris shakily hugged Excadrill who gladly returned her embrace. He was relieved to see that she was okay and was a little saddened that he had allowed his damaged pride to get in the way of their friendship. The ground type released his hold on his trainer when he saw Ash run over, Iris got up and was immediately pulled into a crushing hug by Ash. Iris wrapped her arms around Ash who looked her in the eye with a furious expression.

"You idiot. You could have been killed!" Ash yelled.

"What would you have done in my place?" Iris asked.

"The exact same thing you did." Ash replied as his furious look was replaced with a relieved smile.

Ash then gazed over to Pokémon seeing that most of them had take little damage in the battle with Team Plasma due to how well they fought as a team, he quickly checked over everyone until he finally came to Beheeyem. The psychic felt exhausted but did his best to hide it from Ash and the others, he didn't want anyone to worry about him right now with Team Plasma still in the area.

"Hey Beheeyem, thank you for saving Iris and Excadrill."

Beheeyem levitated in front of Ash breathing heavily, catching both Iris and Excadrill had take a heavy toll on him mentally even with the power boost he had gotten from evolving. Ash immediately pulled Beheeyem into a hug who relaxed in Ash's arms and did his best to rest his trainers hug. It was obvious to Ash that Beheeyem needed a rest of using so much power to save Iris and since someone needed to stay behind and guard the grunts while they went to help Alder it gave Ash the perfect excuse to leave him here to rest.

"Come on everyone we better see if Alder needs our help. Except you Beheeyem, I need you to stay here with these grunts just to make sure they don't get away."

While everyone believed Ash's excuse for leaving Beheeyem here to guard the grunts, Beheeyem was not so easily fooled. He knew that Ash had recognised how exhausted he was and was giving him the opportunity to get some much-needed rest. The newly evolved psychic Pokémon thanked Ash with a nod and then and levitated out of Ash's arms so that he was above the grunts and had good vision on the area.

Ash glanced back to the sky briefly and saw the airship heading over to where Alder had gone to confront the leader of this group of Team Plasma grunts, whether they were going to help their leader or just fleeing in that direction was unknown. All Ash was certain of was that they had to catch up with Alder and make sure that the Champion of Unova was okay. With a quick nod to each other Ash and Iris, followed closely by their Pokémon ran deeper into the Virbank Complex to find Alder and possibly whoever had organised this attack.

* * *

Meanwhile oblivious to the events that had transpired with Ash and Iris, Alder had made his way deeper into the Virbank Complex and had started to see small devices on the fuel tanks. Alder took a closer look and was shocked to see what Team Plasma had been doing, they'd planted explosives presumably with intention of blowing complex up. The destruction that would cause would be devastating and would claim the lives of many people and Pokémon. Alder suddenly spotted a man up ahead and immediately recognised him although he couldn't believe that he wasn't in prison.

"Zinzolin. How did you escape from prison?"

"Ah, Alder you remember me I see. As for why I'm not in prison well did you honestly believe that Ghetsis would allow the sages to be left to rot in prison? No, he needed us to help fulfil his vision for not just Unova but for the whole world."

"So, tell me Zinzolin what does terrorism achieve? Blowing up a power station does nothing to further your goal. All it does is cause death and destruction to innocent people."

"I'm truly disappointed in you Alder, you never see the bigger picture. The destruction of this power station is just a symbol to show the people that Team Plasma can do what they want and the people of Unova are powerless to stop us."

Suddenly a horde of Team Plasma grunts appeared placing themselves between Alder and Zinzolin giving Alder no easy path to the sage. With his bodyguard protecting him Zinzolin felt a lot more confident and smirked at the frustrated Champion who was clearly trying to find some weakness in his bodyguard while also looking at the multiple explosives in the area.

"And there is nothing you can do to stop us now Alder, in a moment our transportation will be here, we will escape and you along with anyone nearby will be blown to pieces."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that Zinzolin. Volcarona use Bug Buzz." Alder said as he threw out a Pokéball.

Volcarona burst out of his Pokéball and started to vibrate his wings at a ridiculously high speed releasing a high frequency noise which caused all of the Team Plasma grunts and Zinzolin to cover their ears at the sound. To their surprise the attack soon ended leaving the members of Team Plasma unharmed except for the slight ringing still in their ears and the small headache they were ow suffering from. Once he had recovered from Volcarona's attack Zinzolin laughed almost hysterically at the smug looking Alder.

"That attack was pointless Alder, we are unharmed."

"The attack was not intended for you Zinzolin, the high frequency that Volcarona's Bug Buzz is emitted at can fry the electronics of anything in the area which has rendered both the remote in your hand and the explosives nearby completely useless."

Zinzolin thought that Alder was trying to trick them and somehow make them give up on their plan to destroy the Virbank Complex however the confident look in Alder's eyes said otherwise. With a sense of doubt creeping into his mind Zinzolin opened the detonator to see if what Alder said had been true and saw that as Alder said the circuitry had been completely fired due to Volcarona's Bug Buzz. The sage growled in frustration and threw the detonator on the ground, stomping on it to take out some of his frustration. With the plan now in utter ruins Zinzolin glared at Alder and then smirked as he saw the airship rapidly approaching

"Damn you Alder. Once again you stand in our way but this time you will not see the same success you had two years ago. All of you attack him!"

As instructed the Team Plasma grunts sent out their Pokémon and launched their attack forcing Alder to bring out the rest of his team. Despite being horrendously outnumbered the skill and power of Alder's Pokémon meant that they were easily holding their own especially with Alder giving out quick instructions. A couple of the grunts saw the influence that Alder was having on the battle so disengaged their Pokémon from the massive brawl and instructed them to attack Alder instead of his Pokémon.

The Pokémon did as they were told and started their attack, due to how bogged down in combat they were, none of Alder's Pokémon could help their trainer. The Champion saw a pair of Swoobat headed his way and put his arms up to try and shield himself from the attack. However, the attack never came as a Thunderbolt shot through the air and electrocuted the Swoobat's making them crash to the ground unconscious. Ash and Iris along with their Pokémon suddenly appeared by Alder's side, Pikachu's cheeks crackling showing that he had been the one to stop the Swoobat.

"Sorry we're late." Ash said with a grin.

"Better late than never." Alder replied.

The champion then gave Ash and Pikachu a nod to show his gratitude for their intervention and then focussed on the battle against Team Plasma. Ash and Iris' Pokémon quickly ran forward to support Alder's Pokémon and with the Pokémon belonging to Ash and Iris now assisting them, Alder's Pokémon were able to breakthrough the horde of Team Plasma grunts.

With the first and only line of defence out of the way Alder's Pokémon headed straight for Zinzolin while Ash and Iris' Pokémon covered their flanks. The sage merely smirked at the approaching Pokémon as the airship was now above and would pull him to safety saving him from Alder.

Just as Alder's Pokémon were about to capture Zinzolin like they had two years ago, someone wearing a jetpack jumped out of the airship overhead, the person grabbed the sage and then carried him away. Once the sage was on board the airship started to flee leaving all of the grunts to face the wrath of the now angered Pokémon belonging to Alder, Iris and Ash who made short work of their opponents.

Like he had done to the first group of grunts they captured Pikachu shot a Thunder Wave at them, paralysing them and leaving them on the ground twitching. With the grunts defeated Alder looked to the sky and watched as the airship started to fade from view, he sighed and then turned away.

"Next time you won't escape Zinzolin." Alder sighed and looked at Ash and Iris. "Come on we best go check on Roxie."

Ash and Iris nodded and fell into line behind Alder as he led the way north out of the complex and back to Virbank City. Alder walked in silence while the younger trainers behind him talked about Roxie and their battle against Team Plasma, both of them were worried about Alder thought as he was clearly beating himself up for allowing Zinzolin escape. They both knew that it wasn't the Champion's fault, he had done all he could to capture the leader of this group of Team Plasma grunts but as a Champion he expected himself to do better in these situations even if he did manage to disarm the explosives and save the lives of everyone nearby.

* * *

Authors Notes

Well, there's chapter 21, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters. Also feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.

Pokémon Ash currently has with him: Pikachu, Eevee, Vaporeon, Beheeyem, Scizor, Gliscor, Ninetales & Deino


	23. Recuperation

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this has become as we now have over 200 people following and/or favouriting. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you. Oh, and thanks to everyone who has voted on the poll.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is, of course, regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

The trio were soon back in Virbank City, despite the desire to go and check on Roxie and see how she was, Alder convinced Ash and Iris to go visit Officer Jenny first and give her their statements on what had transpired here today. After telling Officer Jenny about everything that had happened from them arriving at the gym to fighting Team Plasma and stopping them from executing their plan.

Ash and Iris headed back to the Pokémon Centre, the pair walked up to the main desk and handed their Pokémon to the Nurse Joy who passed them to the Audino, so they could be healed. With their Pokémon now in safe hands Ash and Iris were once again focussed on finding out the state of Roxie.

"How's Roxie doing Nurse Joy?" Ash asked.

"Well thanks to you she's recovering, right now I'm just trying to rehydrate her as she was perhaps days away from dying."

"Can we see her?" Iris asked.

"Of course, she is currently resting though so please try not to wake her."

Ash and Iris nodded, they understood that Roxie needed rest to recover from the ordeal she had obviously been through. Nurse Joy lead the young trainers into the room Roxie was recovering in and then left them there as she had to be ready at the front desk in case anyone else came in. relief filled Ash and Iris as they saw that Roxie was already looking better, she was nowhere near as pale and Nurse Joy had obviously bathed her since she was no longer coated in blood and grime. A couple of seats had been placed by the bed which Ash and iris quickly occupied as they looked at the sleeping form of Roxie.

"I'm sorry that Team Rocket got away with this Roxie." Ash said.

"There's nothing you could have done Ash, if you had gone after them rather than help me and Alder with Team Plasma, well I don't even want to think about what would have happened." Iris said with a shudder.

"I guess you're right Iris but still it doesn't change the fact that Team Rocket did this."

"Were it not for you Ash, we may never have found Roxie so focus on that rather than on Team Rocket." Alder stated as he walked into the room. "I assure you that the word has been spread throughout Unova that Team Rocket are here and to be on the lookout for them. If anyone here should be blaming themselves it is me, it is clear to me now that Team Rocket have been here for a while and somehow, I did not notice it. Roxie is here in her current condition because of me."

Ash nodded and stayed silent, he wanted to argue with Alder taking the blame, but he knew that the Champion wouldn't change his mind. Regardless of what Ash or Iris said, no matter how well they explained it, Alder would still take the blame for this. Ash sighed and got up, there was nothing he could do here right now, and it was pointless to have three of them as well as the Audino nearby in the room.

So, Ash decided to take this opportunity to make some party changes, most of the Pokémon he currently had with him had either been chosen for the gym battle or were new additions. The former now weren't needed for now as there was no way Ash was battling Roxie any time soon, while the latter could do with getting to know the rest of their family. Ash quietly left the room and headed back into the main reception area where the phones and transportation machines were.

* * *

After giving it some consideration and talking with his Pokémon about it, Ash decided to send back everyone apart from Deino, he was hoping to get the dragon to evolve before sending him back so that Gabite would have some dragon competition on his level. Ash placed the Pokéballs belonging to Gliscor, Scizor, Beheeyem and Ninetales in the transfer machine.

Ash paused as he held Vaporeon's Pokéball, he hadn't talked to her yet, but he wanted her to go and meet the others and she also in all likelihood wouldn't get the chance to battle any time soon. The only problem was that her presence had proven so calming for Eevee although she seeded to be relying on Vaporeon less and less.

"Hey Eevee, I've been thinking about sending Vaporeon to meet the rest of our family. Would you be okay with that?"

The small fox looked down for a moment in deep thought and then looked up at Ash giving him a nod which surprised Ash. He had been certain that Eevee would have been desperate to have Vaporeon nearby for at least a little while longer. Ash smiled at Eevee and hugged her tightly, he then sent out the water Eeveelution, so he could give her some instructions and allow Eevee to say goodbye.

With some reluctance the pair said their goodbyes, Ash then gave the water Eeveelution a few instructions for what to do when she got back to Pallet and then returned her. Ash placed Vaporeon's Pokéball in the transfer machine too and then dialled Professor Oak's number, a few moments later the Professor's face appeared on the screen as he accepted the call.

"Hello Professor."

"Ah hello again Ash, I assume you have beaten Roxie and earned your second Unova badge."

"Not exactly, something has happened in Virbank and well getting my badge now is impossible for now." Ash replied.

A frown formed on Professor Oak's face wondering what had happened to make winning the badge impossible, there were only a few reasons why and none of them were good. He immediately ruled out Ash being the cause of it being impossible, he would never do anything to jeopardise his chance of winning a badge. This left either a problem with the gym leader or the gym had to be closed for an extended period of time.

Seeing the professor clearly thinking of every possible reason that could have prevented him from winning the next badge, Ash decided to tell Professor Oak everything that had happened and watched as a horrified look appeared on Professor Oak's face. By the time Ash was finished Professor Oak was mortified about what had happened to Roxie and concerned about what Team Rocket and Team Plasma were up to in the Unova region.

"That's terrible Ash, thank Arceus you got there when you did. Well I guess you will have to put that badge on hold for a while until Roxie has recovered."

"Yeah, I'm going to go to Castelia City and win my badge from Burgh. I guess I'll come back here maybe after I've won all the other badges."

"That sounds like a good idea to me Ash, so you're calling to make some team changes then."

"I am, I'm sending Gliscor, Scizor, Ninetales, Beheeyem and Vaporeon to you and I'd like Noctowl and Infernape in return."

"Interesting, you've gone for quite a powerful pair for this gym. The Pokémon you've selected will have a type advantage against Burgh, something that you haven't done previously."

"Yeah well after not being able to win a gym badge here I kind of just want to win another one as quick as possible with as little resistance as possible. They weren't my original choices, well Noctowl was but not Infernape, I hope he'll understand why I've called him over earlier than expected."

"I'm sure he will Ash, now are you sure those are the only ones you want? Because someone turned up here yesterday and I get the feeling that this Pokémon may want to join you to."

"Who is it?"

Suddenly a Pokémon Ash had met during his Kanto journey appeared on the screen, a Pokémon that had been invaluable to him even though technically speaking he had never truly belonged to Ash.

"Haunter? I thought you were happy with Sabrina."

"He was however Sabrina had notice that Haunter missed you, so she brought him here, so I could send him to you. If you want him that is."

"Of course, I want him Professor, I'd love to have Haunter on my team."

"Excellent, I shall go gather Noctowl and Infernape and then all three will be sent to you."

The professor walked off screen leaving Haunter alone, something he would regret as the mischievous ghost Pokémon started messing around with anything he could find. A fond smile crept onto Ash's face and he had to stifle a laugh as he saw Haunter which made him think back to when he had last met Haunter, the day he had "defeated" Sabrina thanks to the ghost. The professor came back in to view, his coat now covered in dirt due to Bayleef jumping on him and a frown on his face due to what Haunter had done in the short space of time he had been gone.

"First I get tackled by Bayleef and now I find Haunter messing with my experiments, your Pokémon are nothing but trouble." Professor Oak stated with an overexaggerated sigh. "Good luck against Burgh although with the team you have with you I doubt you'll need luck." he added with a smile.

"Thanks Professor."

Professor Oak merely nodded in response to Ash and then returned Haunter, placing his Pokéball as well as Noctowl's and Infernape's in the transport machine. He flipped a switch sending them to Ash and then ended the call giving the young man a wave as he faded from the screen. With his new team now here, Ash quickly sent out all three but before anyone could speak a word Haunter started to glow white signalling that he was evolving.

After a few moments the light down revealing a Gengar where Haunter had been levitating, the newly evolved launched himself at Ash and hugged him, feeling Ash return the hug moments later. After a brief embrace the ghost released his hold on Ash and then levitated back over to where Infernape and Noctowl were

"I missed you too Gengar." Ash smiled at Gengar and then face Infernape and Noctowl. "Alright I've called you here to help with the next gym battle."

Noctowl nodded, she'd been expected to be called upon soon, Infernape on the other hand was confused, back in Pallet Town Ash had said he would be used against one of the final gym leaders and it was far too soon for Ash to be fighting one of them. Which meant either Ash had somehow managed to convince one of the final gym leaders to battle him now or there was a change of plan which required him help. Infernape hoped it was the former but was almost certain that it was the latter.

"The next gym we're facing is the bug type leader named Burgh."

Noctowl nodded and was ready to battle against this gym leader, Infernape on the other hand didn't look so enthused and let out a disappointed sigh. Ash wasn't surprised at Infernape's response, the fire monkey wanted to test himself at the very highest level against Pokémon he has no advantage over. So, battling a bug type gym leader wasn't exactly what Infernape had in mind.

"I know you're disappointed Infernape, but I promise a better battle will come up later and when it does I'll want you by my side."

Infernape nodded, he understood that Ash wouldn't have done this unless he really needed to and with the promise of a better battle down the line Infernape was fine with fighting this bug gym leader. Although it would have to be a very good battle or else he would not be happy. Ash was relieved that Infernape seemed to be okay with this, it seemed as though the promise of a stronger battle down the line had satisfied Infernape's desire for a challenge.

With that sorted Ash returned Infernape and Noctowl, he then tried to return Gengar, but the ghost dodged the beam. Ash knew that meant Gengar wanted to stay outside so Ash placed Gengar's Pokéball in his pocket and then started walking back towards the room Roxie was still resting in.

* * *

Well, there's chapter 21, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters. Also feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.

Pokémon Ash currently has with him: Pikachu, Eevee, Deino, Gengar, Infernape & Noctowl


	24. Going Separate Ways

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this has become as we now have over 200 people following and/or favouriting. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you. Oh, and thanks to everyone who has voted on the poll.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is, of course, regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

Shortly after Ash had left the room to go and swap his Pokémon and prepare them for the upcoming gym battle against Burgh, Iris had turned her gaze from Roxie to Alder. She had been waiting for a chance to talk to him about her decision and how to tell Ash about it. Of course, this was all dependant upon Alder actually agreeing to train her which considering his current situation may not happen. After everything that had happened with Team Rocket and Plasma it was doubtful that the Champion would have the time to help her train.

"Alder I need your advice."

"Of course Iris, ask whatever you want." Alder replied still not taking his eyes off the resting form of Roxie.

"Well, I've been thinking about how I can achieve my goal of becoming a dragon master and I want to stay here and train with you for a while. If you have the time to help me that is."

That was not exactly what Alder had expected to hear from Iris, she had certainly changed a lot since he had last met her, but he was sure that a lot of that was down to the influence of Ash and their time spent together. Alder grinned at Iris and finally turned his gaze away from Roxie and faced Iris who looked incredibly nervous.

"Well I must admit I am pleasantly surprised Iris, I'd be happy to help you although I promise you that the training won't be easy. We may end up chasing Team Rocket or Plasma at some point, but I have a feeling that that is not what you need advice on."

"I, I don't know how to tell Ash that I won't be going with him."

Alder sat back in his chair and rubbed his chin as he went deep in contemplation, even though he had only met the young man for a brief amount of time he knew that Ash would understand. He looked at Iris and could tell that she was nervous about this possibly more so than asking to train with him.

"Just tell him the truth, he'll understand."

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

Iris smiled at Alder and was about to thank the Champion of Unova but stopped when she heard a groaning coming from the bed both her and Alder immediately looked at the bed and saw that Roxie's eyes were flickering open. The pair were up and by her side in mere moments with both taking a hold of her hands and smiling as they felt her weakly squeeze them.

"Roxie are you okay?"

"I've been better Alder." Roxie croaked back.

Ash then walked back in the room and smiled in relief as he saw that Roxie was finally awake, he quickly joined Iris and Alder at Roxie's bedside. The rocker saw Ash and her eyes momentarily widened as she remembered seeing his face, he was the one who had found and saved her from the hell she had been trapped in. She slipped her hand out of Alder's grasp and took hold of one of Ash's who gently squeezed her hand.

"It's you. You're the one who found me." Roxie stated.

"Well Pikachu really has to take the credit, he broke down the wall. I just carried you out."

"Either way I'm incredibly grateful."

"I just did what anyone in that position would do."

The rocker smiled at Ash, it was clear that he wasn't going to accept the praise he clearly deserved and then her eyes slid closed making both Ash and Iris panic that something was terribly wrong. Just as they were about to go get Nurse Joy both Audino and Alder stopped the pair. They knew that there was nothing wrong, she just needed some rest after everything she had been through.

"It's okay she's just exhausted." Alder said easing their concerns.

Ash and Iris sighed in relief and then stepped away from the bed, they left room so that no one would wake up Roxie and sat in the reception area of the Pokémon Centre. There was a group sigh of relief that Roxie seemed to be on the mend already, they had all feared the worst when they first found her. Alder then looked at Iris who was wringing her hands and looking extremely nervous, she was obviously trying to tell Ash what she had planned.

"So, Ash what are your plans now?" Alder asked giving Iris a little extra time.

"I feel bad about saying this, but I really need to leave tomorrow, there is a boat to Castelia City that leaves in the morning and then next one won't be for a couple of weeks. As much as I'd like to stay here and help Roxie I have to go."

"That's perfectly understandable Ash." Alder replied who then nudged her gently.

"Um Ash I'm staying here, I want to train with Alder for a while." Iris said as she stared at her hands on the desk. Suddenly Ash's hands clasped around hers, Iris looked up and saw Ash smiling at her.

"That's alright Iris, you have a dream and you have to do what you think is best to achieve that dream. In your place I'd do the exact same thing."

the maturity shown by Ash didn't surprise Alder, but it was till impressive none the less

With that Ash and Iris spent a while chatting until it started to get late when Nurse Joy informed them that she was closing the Pokémon Centre. Ash and Iris sighed and with some reluctance ended their conversation and headed to their rooms to get some rest.

* * *

The next morning Ash, Iris and Alder were stood on the dock of Virbank City, a ship was docked nearby and ready to take its passengers to Castelia City. Ash hugged Iris while Pikachu and Eevee nuzzled the dragon master in trainings cheeks, they may have only travelled together for a short while, but they had become fast friends. The pair reluctantly broke the hug knowing this would be the last time they would see each for who knows how long.

"Goodbye Iris, I'm sure I'll see you again sooner or later and I know you'll be a Dragon Master."

"Thanks, Ash, I'm expecting to see you win the Unova League this year."

"Don't you worry Iris, I will."

"Here Ash take this Toxic Badge, you've earned it." Alder said as he presented the badge to Ash.

Ash looked at the badge and raised his hand to take it but then stopped as his hand hovered over it, part of him wanted to take the badge and go but another part just couldn't do that. After a moment of thought he sighed heavily and moved away from the badge leaving it laying in Alder's hand. Everyone stared at Ash wondering why he hadn't taken what was now his.

"No, I haven't earned it, I beat Team Plasma not a gym leader. I don't want to win my badges like this, I want to earn them by beating tough trainers."

There was a silence as they all thought about what Ash had said, Iris was about to argue with Ash however she was cut off by Alder.

"Hmm very well Ash, I can't force you to take this and it's doubtful that Roxie will want to battle anytime soon after what happened with Team Rocket. However, I believe I may be able to give you what you want. I have a friend from the Ransei region coming to Unova in a few months' time, she is a user of poison Pokémon and a powerful one too. I'll arrange a battle between the two of you for the badge, that should provide you with exactly what you want."

"Alright Alder, if she's as strong as you say then I accept."

"Excellent! I will sort all the details out and you will have your battle. I'll just keep hold of the Toxic badge until then." Alder shook Ash's hand as the Captain called for everyone to board the ship. "Well it appears that this is goodbye Ash, good luck and thank you for everything."

Ash nodded and then walked up the ramp and onto the ship, he stood on the main deck and waved back at Iris and Alder as the boat left the dock. Ash watched the dock slowly grow smaller and waved until the pier was no longer in sight. With Virbank City now behind him, Ash turned his gaze to Castelia City and couldn't wait to battle Burgh and win his next Unova badge.

* * *

Back on the pier Iris finally stopped waving and then looked up at Alder, she was curious why the Champion hadn't been more insistent on Ash taking the badge. Despite what her friend had said he truly did deserve that badge, he had helped stop Team Plasma and had he not been there a lot of people could have severely injured or maybe even worse.

"Alder, why didn't you try harder to make Ash take the badge, he deserved it."

"I agree Iris, he had done more than enough to earn this badge, but Ash was not going to take this badge no matter what I said. He doesn't want to be given a badge, he wants to win them all and that is very admirable."

"So, who is this friend of yours that Ash will battle?"

"Her name Nene and trust me she is very strong, I think she would almost rival Koga when it comes to poison Pokémon."

"Wait you want Ash to fight someone who is almost on a par with an Elite Four member? It's only the second badge in the region, that doesn't seem very fair."

"The only reason I am choosing Nene is because Ash wants to earn his badges the hard way and I wanted to ensure he won it in the hardest way possible. Besides that, I already know that Ash will win the battle, it will be tough, but he will win."

Iris was surprised at the declaration from Alder, after hearing how strong this Nene apparently is, she assumed that Alder had given Ash an impossible task, but it seemed as though it was quite the opposite. It was in a way odd to hear the Champion have such a high praise for a trainer especially one he had only met a few times.

"You have a lot of faith in Ash."

"I do, he is destined for greatness, that much I can tell. If he is not challenging a champion within the next three years I will be very surprised."

This only made Iris more shocked, Alder was right now placing Ash in the same bracket, talentwise, as Cynthia who had also become Champion at the age of twenty-one. It was rare to hear anyone say that someone could rival Cynthia, at the moment she was unstoppable, so for Alder to be suggesting this was astonishing.

"That would mean he would be challenging a champion by the time he's twenty-one, so you genuinely believe that Ash could rival Cynthia's power in the future."

"That's exactly what I think Iris and I have no doubt that the day those two battle in a stadium for the title of champion it will go down as one of the most incredible battles in history. Although that battle is a more than three years away, right now Cynthia is on another level which only Diantha has managed to get remotely close to."

"You said you think Ash will challenge a Champion within three years, but you didn't specify who. It's obviously not Cynthia so who do you think Ash will be challenging in three years' time?"

"I hope it will be me." Alder replied as he turned his gaze back to sea.

* * *

Authors Notes

Well, there's chapter 24, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters. Also feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.

Pokémon Ash currently has with him: Pikachu, Eevee, Deino, Noctowl, Gengar & Infernape


	25. Disappointment

Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this has become as we now have over 200 people following and/or favouriting. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you. Oh, and thanks to everyone who has voted on the poll.

So, the original version of this chapter was ready a while ago however I decided to take the majority of the chapter and save it for a later point in the story. Right now, it would feel a little shoehorned it whereas later on it would fit in much better.

Sorry for the hiatus guys, work has been crazy over the past couple of months as a load of people chose to have the holiday at the same time. So, I've been running around covering all of their work and it turns out some of them are really bad at their jobs. I'm not going to make any promises here guys since it is coming up to Christmas and I am sure that I'll will be doing more hours in the near future. All I'll say is that I will work hard to get a chapter written as soon as possible.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

 _Italics –_ This will be telepathy

"– Is, of course, regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

* * *

Ash was stood on the deck of the ship, focussing on Castelia City that growing ever closer. It felt a little strange traveling alone again, even though he had intended to go through Unova on his own he missed the companionship he had had with Misty, Brock, Dawn and everyone else who had traipsed across various regions with him including his most recent companion Iris. The bright side was that there would be no distractions and thus nothing to delay his training which had been one of the main reasons he had wanted to travel Unova with just his Pokémon.

'Ash what's wrong?'

"Nothing Pikachu, I'm just thinking about our past journeys." Ash paused as he considered how to word his next question. "Do you miss travelling with other people like Brock and Misty."

'Yes, I do sometimes but I think us traveling alone is best for us. We can focus on training for gyms and tournaments and not worry about things looking pretty for contests.'

Ash chuckled knowing that he had wasted a bit too much time in Sinnoh in contests, sure he'd had some fun competing in the few that he had tried but it was time that could have been better used training to get stronger. Instead a few moves just ended up looking a bit flashier, not exactly a vital thing for Pokémon and trainers who want to battle and win league championships. Still he had learnt some lessons from the contests and had it not been for Dawn and Buizel competing in contests the Counter Shield would have never been created. That didn't mean he was in any rush to start competing in whatever the equivalent to contests are in Unova though.

With little else to do during the boat ride to Castelia City, Ash headed to the top deck which was also the battle deck to try. He wasn't interested in battling since the other trainers on the boat seemed to be newer, more inexperienced trainers, he just thought it would be a good way to pass the time and give Eevee a little attention. Once he was on the top deck Ash quickly found himself a chair and sat down focussing mostly on Eevee but also on the battles being fought by the young trainers onboard.

* * *

Just over an hour later the ship pulled into Castelia's port, Ash waited for everyone else to get off the ship, not wanting to get caught in the horde of people pushing, shoving and almost climbing over each other to get off the ship. Once the way was clear, Ash stepped off the ship and marvelled at the size of Castelia, it was one of if not the biggest city he had ever visited. The worry for him now was whether he would actually find the gym considering that he didn't have the greatest sense of direction.

"Guess we better head towards the gym wherever that is."

With that Ash started walking down the main high street of Castelia City, he considered using Navi to give him the exact location of the gym however for now he was happy enough exploring the massive city. It was certainly the most impressive city he had seen thus far, even placed like Goldenrod and even Jubilife seemed tiny in comparison. Ash soon took as Navi as he realised just how big the city is, he took a seat on a nearby bench, so he could gain his bearings and question Navi about what happened to the Pokémon living in south east Unova since he was interested in catching one that had lived there.

"Hey, Navi do you know where the Pokémon living in south east Unova moved to after the disaster hit?"

"Reports indicate that since most of the Pokémon were used to living in more forested areas, they were moved to Route 15 and Route 16, so they could continue to live in the forest. Unfortunately, I am unable to find out which specific species are there since some were moved to other areas if the forest did not suit them."

"Thanks for the info Navi, can you lead me to the Castelia gym now please?"

"Of course, Ash, go back to the port and head right, you'll go past the Pokémon Centre and then continue on until a building blocks your path, then head north and you'll see the gym in no time."

Ash thanked Navi and then placed the device back in his pocket ready to use it once again should he get lost. As he started to follow the path Navi and had told him to follow Ash started going over the schedule, he had made in his head prior to arriving here and now since he was finally in Castelia, he could start following that schedule.

The good news was that he was ahead of schedule, the bad news was that due to the disaster he had missed out on a Pokémon he wanted. What made it worse was that the only information he had was that the Pokémon could be near Route 15 and Route 16, but he had no clue where to find it specifically, if that's even where it had been taken. Ash sighed and shrugged, he knew that was no use crying over spilt Moomoo milk, he just had to hope he encountered one or maybe find someone willing to trade one of his Tauros for one.

* * *

Suddenly Ash found himself stood in front of the Castelia gym, he hadn't even been paying attention properly due to how deep in thought he was. With his next gym badge in reach Ash grabbed the handle on the door and pulled it but found that it wouldn't budge. A frown quickly appeared on Ash's face, it was the middle of the day, so the gym should be open. Pikachu then spotted a note on the sign next to the gym, he tapped Ash's face to get his attention and then pointed at the note. Ash looked at the note and started to read it aloud.

"Gym Leader Burgh has shut down the Castelia City Gym for the foreseeable future, he is currently in Pinwheel Forest trying to rediscover his muse. There is no confirmation on when Burgh will be returning and taking on new challengers."

Ash sighed and then sat down on the step, his journey through Unova has been strewn with obstacles and it was really starting to get on his nerves. All he wanted was to have a normal journey with no evil teams, no strange occurrences and nothing preventing him from earning his badges and battling in the Pokémon League, but it seems like that was not possible for him. As Ash thought about another gym battle that he wouldn't be having any time soon he didn't notice a shadow loom over him.

"It's as if Arceus himself is putting every possible obstacle possible in my way to stop me achieving anything." Ash said with a dejected sigh.

"You know Ash before today I never really believed in déjà vu but I'm getting the distinct feeling of it right now."

* * *

Authors Notes

Well, there's chapter 25, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters. Also feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.

Take your guess of which Pokemon Ash wanted that lived in the south east of Unova, there's plenty to choose from so good luck guessing which one it is.

Also I'm pretty sure you all know already who is looming over Ash but take a guess at that too as well if you want.

Pokémon Ash currently has with him: Pikachu, Eevee, Deino, Noctowl, Gengar & Infernape


End file.
